
THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

AND OTHER STORIES 

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN 




Glass ~P /l- Hi 


, , v//- 

, •; '■• ».** • -V . v 

‘f •«, « • • 

A « <i • tit • r **.’ • *• • * * •" • . . 1 • *- • * **•?#' 

m 'V-: .vv.;:.;; :.'*•** 













* 













Tiny flew from flower to flower 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


v AND OTHER STORIES 




With illustrations in color, 
by Elenore Plaisted Abbott 
And in black and white 
by Edward Shenton 

•GeorgeW Jacobs & Company' 

Riblishers Philadelphia 




Copyright, 1922, by 
George W. Jacobs & Company 






All rights reserved 
Printed in U. S. A. 


NOV 13 ’22 

C1A703003 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The Flower Maiden ..... 7 

The Emperor’s New Clothes . .27 

The Conceited Apple-Branch ... 36 

The Mermaid 43 

The Tinder Box 74 

The Garden of Paradise .... 87 

The Fir-Tree .... . 105 






































ILLUSTRATIONS 


Tiny flew from flower to flower . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

The Emperor, with his grandest courtiers, went to 

them himself 28 

Then the branch was broken off for her . . . 36 

The fish swam right up 44 

“ Here,” said the witch, “ is my blue apron ” . 74 

The Priuce drew back the branches ... 88 

u I met several ships when I flew from Egypt ” . 106 



THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


HPHERE was once a woman who wished very 
much to have a little child, but she could 
not obtain her wish. At last she went to a fairy, 
and said, “ I should so very much like to have a 
little child; can you tell me where I can find 
one? ” 

“ Oh, that can be easily managed,” said the 
fairy. “ Here is a grain of barley different from 
the kind that grows in the fields and that the 
chickens eat ; plant it in a flower pot and see what 
will happen.” 

“ Thank you,” said the woman, and she gave 
the fairy twelve pennies, which was the price of 
the barleycorn. Then she went home and 
planted it, and immediately there grew up a 
large handsome flower, something like a tulip in 
appearance, but with its leaves tightly closed as 
if it were still a bud. “ It is a beautiful flower,” 
said the woman, and she kissed the red and 
golden-colored leaves, and while she did so the 
flower opened, and she could see that it was a real 
tulip. Within the flower, upon the green velvet 


8 THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

stamens, sat a very graceful little maiden. She 
was scarcely half as long as a thumb, and they 
gave her the name of Tiny, because she was so 
small. A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, 
served her for a cradle; her bed was formed of 
blue violet-leaves, with a rose-leaf for a counter- 
pane. Here she slept at night, but during the 
day she amused herself on a table, where the 
woman had placed a x>late full of water. Round 
this plate were flowers with their stems in the 
water, and upon it floated a large tulip-petal, 
which served Tiny for a boat. Here the little 
maiden sat and rowed herself from side to side, 
with two oars made of white horsehair. It 
really was a very pretty sight. Tiny could sing 
so softly and sweetly that nothing like her sing- 
ing had ever before been heard. One night, 
while she lay in her pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet 
toad crept through a broken pane of glass in the 
window, and leaped right upon the table where 
Tiny lay sleeping under her rose-leaf quilt. 
“ What a pretty little wife this would make for 
my son ! ” said the toad, and she took up the wal- 
nut-shell in which little Tiny lay asleep, and 
jumped through the window with it into the 
garden. 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 9 

In the swampy border of a broad stream in the 
garden lived the toad, with her son. He was 
uglier even than his mother, and when he saw the 
pretty little maiden in her elegant bed, he could 
only cry, “ Croak, croak, croak.” 

“ Don’t speak so loud, or she will awake,” said 
the toad, “ and then she might run away, for she 
is as light as swan’s down. We will place her on 
one of the water-lily leaves out in the stream; it 
will be like an island to her, she is so light and 
small, and then she cannot escape ; and, while she 
is away, we will make haste and prepare the room 
under the marsh, in which you are to live when 
you are married.” 

Far out in the stream grew a number of water- 
lilies, with broad green leaves, which floated on 
the top of the water. The largest of these leaves 
appeared farther off than the rest, and the old 
toad swam out to it with the walnut-shell, in 
which little Tiny lay asleep. The little creature 
woke very early in the morning, and began to cry 
bitterly when she found where she was, for she 
could see nothing but water on every side of the 
large green leaf, and no way of reaching the 
land. Meanwhile the old toad was very busy 
under the marsh, decking her room with rushes 


10 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


and wild flowers, to make it look pretty for her 
new daughter-in-law. Then she swam out with 
her ugly son to the leaf on which she had placed 
poor little Tiny. She wanted to take the pretty 
bed, that she might put it in the bridal chamber 
to be ready for her. The old toad bowed low to 
her in the water, and said, “ Here is my son; he 
will be your husband, and you will live happily 
together in the marsh by the stream.” 

“ Croak, croak, croak,” was all her son could 
say for himself ; so the toad took up the elegant 
little bed, and swam away with it, leaving Tiny 
all alone on the green leaf, where she sat and 
wept. She could not bear to think of living with 
the old toad, and having her ugly son for a hus- 
band. The little fishes, who swam about in the 
water beneath, had seen the toad, and had heard 
what she said, so they lifted their heads above the 
water to look at the little maiden. As soon as 
they caught sight of her, they saw she was very 
pretty, and it made them sorry to think that she 
must go and live with the ugly toads. “ No, it 
must never be! ” So they came together in the 
water, round the green stalk which held the leaf 
on which the little maiden stood, and gnawed it 
away at the root with their teeth. Then the leaf 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 11 

floated down the stream, carrying Tiny far 
away, out of reach of land. 

Tiny sailed past many towns, and the little 
birds in the bushes saw her, and sang, “ What a 
lovely little creature ! ” so the leaf swam away 
with her farther and farther, till it brought her 
to other lands. A graceful white butterfly con- 
stantly fluttered round her, and at last alighted 
on the leaf. Tiny pleased him, and she was glad 
of it, for now the toad could not possibly reach 
her, and the country through which she sailed 
was beautiful, and the sun shone upon the water, 
till it glittered like liquid gold. She took off her 
girdle and tied one end of it round the butterfly, 
and the other end of the ribbon she fastened to 
the leaf, which now glided on much faster than 
ever, taking little Tiny with it as she stood. 
Presently a large beetle flew by; the moment he 
caught sight of her, he seized her round her deli- 
cate waist with his claws, and flew with her into a 
tree. The green leaf floated away on the brook, 
and the butterfly flew with it, for he was fastened 
to it, and could not get away. 

Oh, how frightened little Tiny felt when the 
beetle flew with her to the tree! But especially 
was she sorry for the beautiful white butterfly 


12 THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

which she had fastened to the leaf, for if he could 
not free himself he would die of hunger. But 
the beetle did not trouble himself at all about the 
matter. He seated himself by her side on a 
large green leaf, gave her some honey from the 
flowers to eat, and told her she was very pretty. 
After a time, all the beetles who lived in the tree 
came to visit her. They stared at Tiny, and then 
the young lady beetles turned up their feelers, 
and said, “ She has only two legs ! how ugly that 
looks.” “ She has no feelers,” said another. 
“ Her waist is quite slim. Pooh! she is like a 
human being.” 

“ Oh! she is ugly,” said all the lady beetles, 
although Tiny was very pretty. Then the bee- 
tle who had run away with her believed all the 
others when they said she was ugly, and would 
have nothing more to say to her, and told her she 
might go where she liked. Then he flew down 
with her from the tree, and placed her on a daisy, 
and she wept at the thought that she was so ugly 
that even the beetles would have nothing to say 
to her. And all the while she was really the love- 
liest creature that one could imagine, and as ten- 
der and delicate as a beautiful rose-leaf. During 
the whole summer poor little Tiny lived quite 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 13 

alone in the wide forest. She wove herself a bed 
with blades of grass, and hung it up under a 
broad leaf, to protect herself from the rain. She 
sucked the honey from the flowers for food, and 
drank the dew from their leaves every morning. 
So passed away the summer and the autumn, and 
then came the winter, — the long, cold winter. 
All the birds who had sung to her so sweetly had 
flown away, and the leaves and the flowers had 
withered. The large clover leaf, under the shel- 
ter of which she had lived, was now shriveled up, 
and nothing remained but a yellow withered 
stalk. She felt dreadfully cold, for her clothes 
were torn, and she was herself so frail and deli- 
cate that poor little Tiny was nearly frozen to 
death. It began to snow too; and the snow- 
flakes, as they fell upon her, were like a whole 
shovelful falling upon one of us, for we are tall, 
but she was only an inch high. Then she 
wrapped herself up in a dry leaf, but it cracked 
in the middle, and could not keep her warm, and 
she shivered with cold. Near the wood in which 
she had been living lay a large corn-field, hut the 
corn had been cut a long time; nothing remained 
but the bare dry stubble standing up out of the 
frozen ground. It was to her like struggling 


14 THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

through a large wood. Oh! how she shivered 
with the cold. She came at last to the door of a 
field-mouse, who had a little den under the corn- 
stubble. There dwelt the field-mouse in warmth 
and comfort, with a whole roomful of corn, a 
kitchen, and a beautiful dining-room. Poor lit- 
tle Tiny stood before the door just like a little 
beggar-girl, and begged for a small piece of bar- 
leycorn, for she had been without a morsel to eat 
for two days. 

“ You poor little creature/’ said the field- 
mouse, who was really a good old field- 
mouse, “ come into my warm room and dine 
with me.” She was very pleased with Tiny, 
so she said, “ You are quite welcome to stay with 
me all the winter, if you like ; but you must keep 
my rooms clean and neat, and tell me stories, for 
I shall like to hear them very much.” And Tiny 
did all the field-mouse asked her, and found her- 
self very comfortable. 

“We shall have a visitor soon,” said the field- 
mouse one day; “my neighbor pays me a visit 
once a week. He is better off than I am ; he has 
large rooms, and wears a beautiful black velvet 
coat. If you could only have him for a husband, 
you would be well provided for indeed. But he 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 15 

is blind, so you must tell him some of your pretti- 
est stories.” 

But Tiny did not feel at all interested about 
this neighbor, for he was a mole. However, he 
came and paid his visit, dressed in his black velvet 
coat. 

“ He is very rich and learned, and his house is 
twenty times larger than mine,” said the field- 
mouse. 

He was rich and learned, no doubt, but he al- 
ways spoke slightingly of the sun and the pretty 
flowers, because he had never seen them. Tiny 
was obliged to sing to him, “ Lady-bird, lady- 
bird, fly away home,” and many other pretty 
songs. And the mole fell in love with her be- 
cause she had such a sweet voice; but he said 
nothing yet, for he was very cautious. A short 
time before, the mole had dug a long passage 
under the earth, which led from the dwelling of 
the field-mouse to his own, and here she had per- 
mission to walk with Tiny, whenever she liked. 
But he warned them not to be alarmed at the 
sight of a dead bird which lay in the passage. It 
was a perfect bird, with a beak and feathers, and 
could not have been dead long, and was lying 
just where the mole had made his passage. The 


16 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


mole took a piece of phosphorescent wood in his 
mouth, and it glittered like fire in the dark ; then 
he went before them to light them through the 
long, dark passage. When they came to the 
spot where lay the dead bird, the mole pushed his 
broad nose through the ceiling, the earth gave 
way, so that there was a large hole, and the day- 
light shone into the passage. In the middle of 
the floor lay a dead swallow, his beautiful wings 
folded close to his sides, his feet and his head 
drawn up under his feathers; the poor bird had 
evidently died of the cold. It made little Tiny 
very sad to see it, she did so love the little birds ; 
all the summer they had sung for her so beauti- 
fully. But the mole pushed it aside with his 
crooked legs, and said, “ He will sing no more 
now. How miserable it must be to be born a lit- 
tle bird! I am thankful that none of my chil- 
dren will ever be birds, for they can do nothing 
but cry, ‘ Tweet, tweet/ and always die of hun- 
ger in the winter.” 

“ Yes, you may well say that, as a clever 
mole!” exclaimed the field-mouse. “What is 
the use of his twittering, for when winter comes 
he must either starve or be frozen to death. Still 
birds are very high bred.” 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


17 


Tiny said nothing; but when the two others 
had turned their backs on the bird, she stooped 
down and stroked aside the soft feathers which 
covered the head, and kissed the closed eyelids. 
“ Perhaps this was the one who sang to me so 
sweetly in the summer,” she said; “ and how 
much pleasure you gave me, you dear, pretty 
bird.” 

The mole now stopped up the hole through 
which the daylight shone, and then accompanied 
the ladies home. But during the night Tiny 
could not sleep, so she got out of bed and wove 
a large, beautiful carpet of hay ; then she carried 
it to the dead bird, and spread it over him, with 
some down from the flowers which she had found 
in the field-mouse’s room. It was as soft as wool, 
and she spread some of it on each side of the 
bird, so that he might lie warmly in the cold 
earth. “ Farewell, you pretty little bird,” said 
she, “farewell; thank you for your delightful 
singing during the summer, when all the trees 
were green, and the warm sun shone upon us.” 
Then she laid her head on the bird’s breast, but 
she was alarmed immediately, for it seemed as if 
something inside the bird went “ thump, thump.” 
It was the bird’s heart; he was not really dead, 


18 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


only benumbed with the cold, and the warmth 
had restored him to life. 

In autumn, all the swallows fly away into 
warm countries, but if one happens to linger, the 
cold seizes it, it becomes frozen, and falls down 
as if dead; it remains where it fell, and the cold 
snow covers it. Tiny trembled very much; she 
was quite frightened, for the bird was large, a 
great deal larger than herself, — she was only an 
inch high. But she took courage, laid the wool 
more thickly over the poor swallow, and then 
brought a leaf which she had used for her own 
counterpane, and laid it over the head of the 
poor bird. The next night she again stole out to 
see him. He was alive but very weak; he could 
only open his eyes for a moment to look at Tiny, 
who stood holding a piece of decayed wood in 
her hand, for she had no other lantern. “ Thank 
you, pretty little maiden,” said the sick swallow; 
“ I have been so nicely warmed, that I shall soon 
regain my strength, and be able to fly about 
again in the warm sunshine.” 

“ Oh,” said she, “ it is cold out of doors now; 
it snows and freezes. Stay in your warm bed; 
I will take care of you.” 

Then she brought the swallow some water in a 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


19 


flower-leaf, and, after he had drunk, he told her 
that he had wounded one of his wings in a thorn- 
bush, and could not fly as fast as the others, who 
were soon far away on their journey to warm 
countries. Then at last he had fallen to the 
earth, and could remember no more, nor how he 
came to where she had found him. The whole 
winter the swallow remained underground, and 
Tiny nursed him with care and love. Neither 
the mole nor the field-mouse knew anything 
about it, for they did not like swallows. Very 
soon the springtime came, and the sun warmed 
the earth. Then the swallow bade farewell to 
Tiny, and she opened the hole in the ceiling 
which the mole had made. The sun shone in 
upon them so beautifully, that the swallow asked 
her if she would go with him ; she could sit on his 
back, he said, and he would fly away with her 
into the green woods. But Tiny knew it would 
make the field-mouse very grieved if she left her 
in that manner, so she said, “No, I cannot.” 

“ Farewell, then, farewell, you good, pretty 
little maiden,” said the swallow; and he flew out 
into the sunshine. 

Tiny looked after him, and the tears rose in 
her eyes. She was very fond of the poor swallow. 


20 THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

“ Tweet, tweet,” sang the bird, as he flew out 
into the green woods, and Tiny felt very sad. 
She was not allowed to go out into the warm 
sunshine. The corn which had been sown in the 
field over the house of the field-mouse had grown 
up high into the air, and formed a thick wood to 
Tiny, who was only an inch in height. 

“ You are going to be married, Tiny,” said the 
field-mouse. “ My neighbor has asked for you. 
What good fortune for a poor child like you! 
Now we will prepare your wedding clothes. 
They must be both woolen and linen. Nothing 
must be wanting when you are the mole’s wife.” 

Tiny had to turn the spindle, and the field- 
mouse hired four spiders, who were to weave day 
and night. Every evening the mole visited her, 
and was continually speaking of the time when 
the summer would be over. Then he would keep 
his wedding-day with Tiny; but now the heat of 
the sun was so great that it burned the earth, 
and made it quite hard, like a stone. As soon 
as the summer was over, the wedding should take 
place. But Tiny was not at all pleased; for she 
did not like the tiresome mole. Every morning 
when the sun rose, and every evening when it 
went down, she would creep out at the door, and 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


21 


as the wind blew aside the leaves of the com, so 
that she could see the blue sky, she thought how 
beautiful and bright it seemed out there, and 
wished so much to see her dear swallow again. 
But he did not return; for by this time he had 
flown far away into the lovely green forest. 

When autumn arrived, Tiny had her outfit 
quite ready; and the field-mouse said to her, “ In 
four weeks the wedding must take place.” 

Then Tiny wept, and said she would not marry 
the disagreeable mole. 

“ Nonsense,” replied the field-mouse. “ Now 
don’t be obstinate, or I shall bite you with my 
teeth. He is a very handsome mole; the queen 
herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and 
furs. His kitchens and cellars are quite full. 
You ought to be thankful for such good for- 
tune.” 

So the wedding-day was fixed, on which the 
mole was to fetch Tiny away to live with him, 
deep under the earth, and never again to see the 
warm sun, because lie did not like it. The poor 
child was very unhappy at the thought of saying 
farewell to the beautiful sun, and as the field- 
mouse had given her permission to stand at the 
door, she went to look at it once more. 


22 THE FLOWER MAIDEN 

“ Farewell, bright sun,” she cried, stretching 
out her arm towards it; and then she walked a 
short distance from the house; for the corn had 
been cut, and only the dry stubble remained in 
the fields. “ Farewell, farewell,” she repeated, 
twining her arm round a little red flower that 
grew just by her side. “ Greet the little swallow 
from me, if you should see him again.” 

“ Tweet, tweet,” sounded over her head sud- 
denly. She looked up, and there was the swallow 
himself flying close by. As soon as he spied 
Tiny, he was delighted; and then she told him 
how unwilling she felt to marry the ugly mole, 
and to live always beneath the earth, and never 
see the bright sun any more. And as she told 
him, she wept. 

“ Cold winter is coming,” said the swallow, 
“ and I am going to fly away into warmer coun- 
tries. Will you go with me? You can sit on 
my back, and fasten yourself on with your sash. 
Then we can fly away from the ugly mole and 
his gloomy rooms, — far away, over the moun- 
tains, into warmer countries, where the sun shines 
more brightly than here; where it is always sum- 
mer, and the flowers bloom in greater beauty. 
Fly now with me, dear little Tiny; you saved my 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 23 

life when I lay frozen in that dark, dreary pas- 
sage.” 

“ Yes, I will go with you,” said Tiny; and she 
seated herself on the bird’s back, with her feet 
on his outstretched wings, and tied her girdle to 
one of his strongest feathers. 

Then the swallow rose in the air, and flew over 
forest and sea, high above the highest mountains, 
always covered with snow. Tiny would have 
been frozen in the cold air, but she crept under 
the bird’s warm feathers, keeping her little head 
uncovered, so that she might admire the beauti- 
ful lands over which they passed. At length 
they reached the warm countries, where the sun 
shines brightly, and the sky seems much higher 
above the earth. Here, on the hedges, and by 
the wayside, grew purple, green, and white 
grapes; lemons and oranges hung from trees in 
the woods; and the air was fragrant with myrtles 
and orange blossoms. Beautiful children ran 
along the country lanes, playing with large gay 
butterflies; and as the swallow flew farther and 
farther, every place appeared still more lovely. 

At last they came to a blue lake, and by the 
side of it, shaded by trees of the deepest green, 
stood a palace of dazzling white marble, built in 


24 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


the olclen times. Vines clustered round its lofty 
pillars, and at the top were many swallows’ nests, 
and one of these was the home of the swallow 
who carried Tiny. 

“ This is my house,” said the swallow; “ but it 
would not do for you to live there — you would 
not be comfortable. You must choose for your- 
self one of those lovely flowers, and I will put 
you down upon it, and then you shall have every- 
thing that you can wish to make you happy.” 

“ That will be delightful,” she said, and 
clapped her little hands for joy. 

A large marble pillar lay on the ground, 
which, in falling, had been broken into three 
pieces. Between these pieces grew the most 
beautiful large white flowers; so the swallow flew 
down with Tiny, and placed her on one of the 
broad leaves. But how surprised she was to see, 
in the middle of the flower, a tiny little man, as 
white and transparent as if he had been made of 
crystal! He had a gold crown on his head, and 
delicate wings at his shoulders, and was not much 
larger than Tiny herself. He was the angel of 
the flower; for a tiny man or a tiny woman dwells 
in every flower; and this was the king of them 
all. 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 25 

“ Oh, how beautiful he is! ” whispered Tiny to 
the swallow. 

The little prince was at first quite frightened 
at the bird, who was like a giant, compared to 
such a delicate little creature as himself; but 
when he saw Tiny, he was delighted, and thought 
her the prettiest little maiden he had ever seen. 
He took the gold crown from his head, and 
placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if 
she would be his wife, and queen over all the 
flowers. 

This certainly was a very different sort of hus- 
band from the son of the toad, or the mole, with 
his black velvet and fur; so she said, “ Yes,” to 
the handsome prince. Then all the flowers 
opened, and out of each came a little lady or a 
tiny lord, all so pretty it was quite a pleasure to 
look at them. Each of them brought Tiny a 
present ; but the best gift was a pair of beautiful 
wings, which had belonged to a large white fly, 
and they fastened them to Tiny’s shoulders, so 
that she might fly from flower to flower. Then 
there was much rejoicing, and the little swallow, 
who sat above them, in his nest, was asked to 
sing a wedding song, which he did as well as he 
could; but in his heart he felt sad, for he was very 


26 


THE FLOWER MAIDEN 


fond of Tiny, and would have liked never to 
part from her again. 

“ You must not be called Tiny any more,” said 
the spirit of the flowers to her. “ It is an ugly 
name, and you are so very pretty. We will call 
you Maia.” 

“ Farewell, farewell,” said the swallow, with 
a heavy heart, as he left the warm countries, to 
fly back into Denmark. There he had a nest 
over the window of a house in which dwelt the 
writer of fairy tales. The swallow sang, 
“ Tweet, tweet,” and from his song came the 
whole story. 


THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES 


1\ T ANY years ago there was an Emperor 
■***-*• who was so excessively fond of new clothes 
that he spent all his money on them. He cared 
nothing about his soldiers nor for the theater, 
nor for driving in the woods except for the sake 
of showing off his new clothes. He had a cos- 
tume for every hour in the day, and instead of 
saying as one does about any other King or Em- 
peror, “ He is in his council chamber,” here one 
always said, “ The Emperor is in his dressing- 
room.” 

Life was very gay in the great town where he 
lived; hosts of strangers came to visit it every 
day, and among them one day two swindlers. 
They gave themselves out as weavers, and said 
that they knew how to weave the most beautiful 
stuffs imaginable. Not only were the colors and 
patterns unusually fine, but the clothes that were 
made of the stuffs had the peculiar quality of 
becoming invisible to every person who was not 
fit for the office he held, or if he was impossibly 
dull. 


28 THE EMPEROR'S CLOTHES 

“ Those must be splendid clothes,” thought the 
Emperor. “ By wearing them I should be able 
to discover which men in my kingdom are un- 
fitted for their posts. I shall distinguish the 
wise men from the fools. Yes, I certainly 
must order some of that stuff to be woven for 
me.” 

He paid the two swindlers a lot of money in 
advance, so that they might begin their, work at 
once. 

They did put up two looms and pretended to 
weave, but they had nothing whatever upon their 
shuttles. At the outset they asked for a quantity 
of the finest silk and the purest gold thread, all 
of which they put into their own bags while they 
worked away at the empty looms far into the 
night. 

“ I should like to know how those weavers are 
getting on with the stuff,” thought the Emperor; 
but he felt a little queer when he reflected that 
any one who was stupid or unfit for his post 
would not be able to see the stuff. He certainly 
thought that he need have no fears for himself, 
but still he thought he would send somebody else 
first to see how it was getting on. Everybody in 
the town knew what wonderful power the stuff 

















































• 




































































































































































































THE EMPEROR'S CLOTHES 29 


possessed, and every one was anxious to see how 
stupid his neighbor was. 

“ I will send my faithful old minister to the 
weavers,” thought the Emperor. “ He will be 
best able to see how the stuff looks, for he is a 
clever man and no one fulfills his duties better 
than he does ! ” 

So the good old minister went into the room 
where the two swindlers sat working at the empty 
loom. 

“ Heaven preserve us ! ” thought the old min- 
ister, opening his eyes very wide. “ Why I can’t 
see a thing! ” But he took care not to say so. 

Both the swindlers begged him to be good 
enough to step a little nearer, and asked if he did 
not think it a good pattern and beautiful color- 
ing. They pointed to the empty loom, and the 
poor old minister stared as hard as he could, but 
he could not see anything, for of course there 
was nothing to see. 

“ Good heavens ! ” thought he, “ is it possible 
that I am a fool? I have never thought so, and 
nobody must know it. Am I not fit for my 
post? It will never do to say that I cannot see 
the stuffs.” 

“ Well, sir, you don’t say anything about 


30 THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 

the stuff,” said the one who was pretending to 
weave. 

“ Oh, it is beautiful! quite charming! ” said the 
minister looking through his spectacles; “this 
pattern and these colors! I will certainly tell 
the Emperor that the stuff pleases me very 
much.” 

“ We are delighted to hear you say so,” said 
the swindlers, and then they named all the colors 
and described the peculiar pattern. The old min- 
ister paid great attention to what they said, so as 
to be able to repeat it when he got home to the 
Emperor. 

Then the swindlers went on to demand more 
money, more silk, and more gold, to be able to 
proceed with the weaving; but they put it all into 
their own pockets — not a single strand was ever 
put into the loom, but they went on as before 
weaving at the empty loom. 

The Emperor soon sent another faithful 
official to see how the stuff was getting on, and 
if it would soon be ready. The same thing hap- 
pened to him as to the minister; he looked and 
looked, but as there was only the empty loom, he 
could see nothing at all. 

“ Is not this a beautiful piece of stuff? ” said 


THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 31 

both the swindlers, showing and explaining the 
beautiful pattern and colors which were not there 
to be seen. 

“I know I am no fool!” thought the man, 
“ so it must be that I am unfit for my good post ! 
It is very strange though ! however, one must not 
let it appear! ” So he praised the stuff he did 
not see, and assured them of his delight in the 
beautiful colors and the originality of the de- 
sign. “It is absolutely charming!” he said to 
the Emperor. Everybody in the town was talk- 
ing about this splendid stuff. 

Now the Emperor thought he would like to 
see it while it was still on the loom. So, accom- 
panied by a number of selected courtiers, among 
whom were the two faithful officials who had al- 
ready seen the imaginary stuff, he went to visit 
the crafty impostors, who were working away as 
hard as ever they could at the empty loom. 

“ It is magnificent! ” said both the honest offi- 
cials. “ Only see, your Majesty, what a design! 
What colors ! ” And they pointed to the empty 
loom, for they thought no doubt the others could 
see the stuff. 

“ What! ” thought the Emperor; “ I see noth- 
ing at all! This is terrible! Am I a fool? Ami 


82 THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 

not fit to be Emperor? Why, nothing worse 
could happen to me! ” 

“ Oh, it is beautiful! ” said the Emperor. “ It 
has my highest approval!” and he nodded his 
satisfaction as he gazed at the empty loom. 
Nothing would induce him to say that he could 
not see anything. 

The whole company gazed and gazed, but saw 
nothing more than all the others. However, they 
all exclaimed with his Majesty, “ It is very beau- 
tiful! ” and they advised him to wear a suit made 
of this wonderful cloth on the occasion of a great 
procession which was just about to take place. 
“It is magnificent! gorgeous! excellent!” went 
from mouth to mouth; they were all equally de- 
lighted with it. The Emperor gave each of the 
rogues an order of knighthood to be worn in their 
buttonholes and the title of “ Gentlemen weav- 
ers.” 

The swindlers sat up the whole night, before 
the day on which the procession was to take 
place, burning sixteen candles; so that people 
might see how anxious they were to get the Em- 
peror’s new clothes ready. They pretended to 
take the stuff off the loom. They cut it out in 
the air with a huge pair of scissors, and they 


THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 33 

stitched away with needles without any thread in 
them. At last they said: “ Now the Emperor’s 
new clothes are ready ! ” 

The Emperor, with his grandest courtiers, 
went to them himself, and both swindlers raised 
one arm in the air, as if they were holding some- 
thing, and said: “ See, these are the trousers, this 
is the coat, here is the mantle! ” and so on. “ It 
is as light as a spider’s web. One might think 
one had nothing on, but that is the very beauty 
of it ! ” 

“ Yes! ” said all the courtiers, but they could 
not see anything, for there was nothing to see. 

“Will your imperial Majesty be graciously 
pleased to take off your clothes,” said the im- 
postors, “so that we may put on the new ones, 
here before the great mirror.” 

The Emperor took off all his clothes, and the 
impostors pretended to give him one article of 
dress after the other, of the new ones which they 
had pretended to make. They pretended to 
fasten something round his waist and to tie on 
something; this was the train, and the Emperor 
turned round and round in front of the mirror. 

“ How well his Majesty looks in the new 
clothes! How becoming they are! ” cried all the 


M THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 

people. “ What a design, and what colors ! 
They are most gorgeous robes ! ” 

“ The canopy is waiting outside which is to be 
carried over your Majesty in the procession,” 
said the master of ceremonies. 

“ Well, I am quite ready,” said the Emperor. 
“ Don’t the clothes fit well? ” and then he turned 
round again in front of the mirror, so that he 
should seem to be looking at his grand things. 

The chamberlains who were to carry the train 
stooped and pretended to lift it from the ground 
with both hands, and they walked along with 
their hands in the air. They dared not let it 
appear that they could not see anything. 

Then the Emperor walked along in the pro- 
cession under the gorgeous canopy, and every- 
body in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, 
“ How beautiful the Emperor’s new clothes are! 
What a splendid train! And they fit to perfec- 
tion ! ” Nobody would let it appear that he could 
see nothing, for then he would not be fit for his 
post, or else he was a fool. 

None of the Emperor’s clothes had been so 
successful before. 

“ But he has got nothing on,” said a little child. 

“ Oh, listen to the innocent,” said its father; 


THE EMPEROR’S CLOTHES 35 


and one person whispered to the other what the 
child had said. “He has nothing on; a child 
says he has nothing on! ” 

“ But he has nothing on! ” at last cried all the 
people. 

The Emperor writhed, for he knew it was 
true, but he thought “ the procession must go 
on now,” so held himself stiffer than ever, and 
the chamberlains held up the invisible train. 


THE CONCEITED APPLE-BRANCH 


T T was the month of May. The wind still blew 
cold; but from bush and tree, field and flower, 
came the welcome sound, “ Spring is come. ,, 
Wild-flowers in profusion covered the hedges. 
Under the little apple-tree Spring seemed busy, 
and told his tale from one of the branches which 
hung fresh and blooming, and covered with deli- 
cate pink blossoms that were just ready to open. 
The branch well knew how beautiful it was ; this 
knowledge exists as much in the leaf as in the 
blood; I was therefore not surprised when a 
nobleman’s carriage, in which sat the young 
countess, stopped in the road just by. She said 
that an apple-branch was a most lovely object, 
and an emblem of spring in its most charming 
aspect. Then the branch was broken off for her, 
and she held it in her delicate hand, and sheltered 
it with her silk parasol. Then they drove to the 
castle, in which were lofty halls and splendid 
drawing-rooms. Pure white curtains fluttered 
before the open windows, and beautiful flowers 
stood in shining, transparent vases; and in one 





£jgard STig-don. 


„HEN the branch was broken, off for her, 
$le^and she held it in her delicate 
< . hand^ 4.4, 












































* 




















































■ • 









THE APPLE-BRANCH 


37 


of them, which looked as if it had been cut out of 
newly-fallen snow, the apple-branch was placed, 
among some fresh, light twigs of beech. It was 
a charming sight. Then the branch became 
proud, which was very much like human na- 
ture. 

People of every description entered the room, 
and, according to their position in society, ex- 
pressed their admiration. Some few said noth- 
ing, others expressed too much, and the apple- 
branch very soon got to understand that there 
was as much difference in the characters of hu- 
man beings as in those of plants and flowers. 
Some are all for pomp and parade, others have 
a great deal to do to maintain their own im- 
portance, while the rest might be spared without 
much loss to society. So thought the apple- 
branch, as he stood before the open window, from 
which he could see out over gardens and fields, 
where there were flowers and plants enough for 
him to think and reflect upon; some rich and 
beautiful, some poor and humble indeed. 

“ Poor, despised herbs,” said the apple- 
branch; “there is really a difference between 
them and such as I am. Plow unhappy they 
must be, if they can feel as those in my position 


38 


THE APPLE-BRANCH 


dol There is a difference indeed, and so there 
ought to be, or we should all be equals.” 

And the apple-branch looked with a sort of 
pity upon them, especially on a certain little 
flower that is found in fields and in ditches. No 
one bound these flowers together in a nosegay; 
they were too common ; they were even known to 
grow between the paving-stones, shooting up 
everywhere, like bad weeds; and they bore the 
very ugly name of “ dog-flowers,” or dande- 
lions. 

“ Poor, despised plants,” said the apple- 
bough, “ it is not your fault that you are so ugly, 
and that you have such an ugly name; but it is 
with plants as with men — there must be a dif- 
ference.” 

“ A difference!” cried the sunbeam, as he 
kissed the blooming apple-branch, and then 
kissed the yellow dandelion out in the fields. All 
were brothers, and the sunbeam kissed them — 
the poor flowers as well as the rich. 

The apple-bough had never thought of the 
boundless love of God, which extends over all the 
works of creation, over everything which lives, 
and moves, and has its being in Him; he had 
never thought of the good and beautiful which 


THE APPLE-BRANCH 


39 


are so often hidden, but can never remain for- 
gotten by Him — not only among the lower crea- 
tion, but also among men. The sunbeam, the ray 
of light, knew better. 

“ You do not see very far, nor very clearly,” 
he said to the apple-branch. “ Which is the de- 
spised plant you so especially pity? ” 

“ The dandelion,” he replied. “ No one ever 
places it in a nosegay; it is often trodden under 
foot, there are so many of them; and when they 
run to seed, they have flowers like wool, which 
fly away in little pieces over the roads, and cling 
to the dresses of the people. They are only 
weeds, but of course there must be weeds. Oh, 
I am really very thankful that I was not made 
like one of these flowers.” 

There came presently across the fields a whole 
group of children, the youngest of whom was so 
small that it had to be carried by the others ; and 
when he was seated on the grass, among the 
yellow flowers, he laughed aloud with joy, kicked 
out his little legs, rolled about, plucked the yel- 
low flowers, and kissed them in childlike inno- 
cence. The elder children broke off the flowers 
with long stems, bent the stalks one round the 
other, to form links, and made first a chain for 


40 


THE APPLE-BRANCH 

the neck, then one to go across the shoulders, 
and hang down to the waist, and at last a wreath 
to wear round the head, so that they looked quite 
splendid in their garlands of green stems and 
golden flowers. But the eldest among them 
gathered carefully the faded flowers, on the stem 
of which the seed was grouped together, in the 
form of a white feathery crown. These loose, 
airy wool-flowers are very beautiful, and look 
like fine snowy feathers or down. The children 
held them to their mouths, and tried to blow 
away the whole crown with one puff of the 
breath. They had been told by their grandmoth- 
ers that whoever did so would be sure to have 
new clothes before the end of the year. The 
despised flower was by this raised to the position 
of a prophet, or foreteller of events. 

“ Do you see,” said the sunbeam, “ do you see 
the beauty of these flowers? Do you see their 
power of giving pleasure? ” 

“ Yes, to children,” said the apple-bough. 

By-and-by an old woman came into the field, 
and, with a blunt knife without a handle, began 
to dig round the roots of some of the dandelion- 
plants, and pull them up. With some of these 
she intended to make tea for herself; but the rest 


THE APPLE-BRANCH 41 

she was going to sell to the druggist, and obtain 
some money. 

“ But beauty is of higher value than all this,” 
said the apple-tree branch; “only the chosen ones 
can he admitted into the realms of the beautiful. 
There is a difference between plants, just as there 
is a difference between men.” 

Then the sunbeam spoke of the boundless love 
of God as seen in creation, and over all that 
lives, and of the equal distribution of His gifts, 
both in time and in eternity. 

“ That is your opinion,” said the apple-bough. 

Then some people came into the room, and, 
among them, the young countess — the lady who 
had placed the apple-bough in the transparent 
vase, so pleasantly beneath the rays of sunlight. 
She carried in her hand something that seemed 
like a flower. The object was hidden by two or 
three great leaves, which covered it like a shield, 
so that no draught or gust of wind could injure 
it, and it was carried more carefully than the 
apple-branch had ever been. Very cautiously 
the large leaves were removed, and there ap- 
peared the feathery seed-crown of the despised 
yellow dandelion. This was what the lady had 
so carefully plucked, and carried home so safely 


42 


THE APPLE-BRANCH 


covered, so that not one of the delicate feathery 
arrows of which its mist-like shape was so lightly 
formed, should flutter away. She now drew it 
forth quite uninjured, and wondered at its beau- 
tiful form, and airy lightness, and singular con- 
struction, so soon to be blown away by the wind. 

“ See,” she exclaimed, “ how wonderfully God 
has made this little flower. I will paint it with 
the apple-branch together. Every one admires 
the beauty of the apple-bough, but this humble 
flower has been endowed by Heaven with an- 
other kind of loveliness ; and although they differ 
in appearance, both are the children of the realms 
of beauty.” 

Then the sunbeam kissed the lowly flower, and 
he kissed the blooming apple-branch, upon whose 
leaves appeared a rosy blush. 


THE MERMAID 


TTAR out at sea the water is as blue as the 
bluest cornflower, and as clear as the clear- 
est crystal; but it is very deep, too deep for any 
cable to fathom, and if many steeples were piled 
on top of one another they would not reach from 
the bed of the sea to the surface of the water. 
It is down there that the Mermen live. 

The palace of the Merman King lies in the 
very deepest part; its walls are of coral and the 
long pointed windows of the clearest amber, but 
the roof is made of mussel shells which open and 
shut with the lapping of the water. This has a 
lovely effect, for there are gleaming pearls in 
every shell, any one of which would be the pride 
of a queen’s crown. 

The Merman King had been for many years 
a widower, but his old mother kept house for 
him; she was a clever woman, but so proud of 
her noble birth that she wore twelve oysters on 
her tail, while the other grandees were only al- 
lowed six. Otherwise she was worthy of all 
praise, especially because she was so fond of the 


44 


THE MERMAID 


little mermaid princesses, her grandchildren. 
They were six beautiful children, but the young- 
est was the prettiest of all; her skin was as soft 
and delicate as a rose-leaf, her eyes as blue as 
the deepest sea, but like all the others she had no 
feet, and instead of legs she had a fish’s tail. 

All the livelong day they used to play in the 
palace in the great halls, where living flowers 
grew out of the walls. When the great amber 
windows were thrown open the fish swam in, just 
as the swallows fly into our rooms when we open 
the windows, but the fish swam right up to the 
little princesses, ate out of their hands, and al- 
lowed themselves to be patted. 

Each little princess had her own little plot of 
garden, where she could dig and plant just as 
she liked. One made her flower-bed in the shape 
of a whale; another thought it nice to have hers 
like a little mermaid, but the youngest made hers 
quite round like the sun, and she would only 
have flowers of a rosy hue like its beams. She 
was a curious child, quiet and thoughtful, and 
while the other sisters decked out their gardens 
with all kinds of things which they got from 
wrecks, she would have nothing besides the rosy 
flowers, except a statue of a beautiful boy. It 



The fish swam right up to the little mermaid princess J &C ° 





THE MERMAID 45 

was hewn out of the purest white marble and had 
gone to the bottom from some wreck. Ry the 
statue she planted a rosy red weeping willow 
tree. 

Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to 
hear about the world of human beings up above ; 
she made her old grandmother tell her all she 
knew about ships and towns, people and animals. 
But above all it seemed strangely beautiful to 
her that up on the earth the flowers were scented, 
for they were not so at the bottom of the sea; 
also that the woods were green, and that the fish 
which were to be seen among the branches could 
sing so loudly and sweetly that it was a delight 
to listen to them. You see the grandmother 
called little birds fish, or the mermaids would 
not have understood her, as they had never seen 
a bird. 

“ When you are fifteen,” said the grand- 
mother, “ you will be allowed to rise up from the 
sea and sit on the rocks in the moonlight, and 
look at the big ships sailing by, and you will also 
see woods and towns.” 

One of the sisters would be fifteen in the fol- 
lowing year, but the others — well, they were each 
one year younger than the other, so that the 


46 


THE MERMAID 


youngest had five whole years to wait before she 
would be allowed to come up from the bottom, 
to see what things were like on earth. 

The eldest princess had now reached her 
fifteenth birthday, and was to venture above the 
water. When she came back she had hundreds 
of things to tell them, but the most delightful of 
all, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a 
sand-bank in a calm sea, and to gaze at the large 
town close to the shore, where the lights twinkled 
like hundreds of stars ; to listen to music and the 
noise and bustle of carriages and people, to see 
the many church towers and spires, and to hear 
the bells ringing; and just because she could not 
go on shore she longed for that most of all. 

Oh! how eagerly the youngest sister listened, 
and when, later in the evening she stood at the 
open window and looked up through the dark 
blue water, she thought of the big town with all 
its noise and bustle, and fancied that she could 
even hear the church bells ringing. 

The year after, the second sister was allowed 
to mount up through the water and swim about 
wherever she liked. The sun was just going 
down when she reached the surface, the most 
beautiful sight, she thought, that she had ever 


THE MERMAID 


47 


seen. The whole sky had looked like gold, she 
said, and as for the clouds! well, their beauty 
was beyond description; they floated in red and 
violet splendor over her head, and, far faster than 
they went, a flock of wild swans flew like a long 
white veil over the water towards the setting sun. 

The year after that the third sister went up, 
and being much the most venturesome of them 
all, swam up a broad river which ran into the 
sea. She saw beautiful green hills; palaces and 
country seats peeping through splendid woods. 
In a tiny bay she found a troop of little children 
running about naked and paddling in the water; 
she wanted to play with them, but they were 
frightened and ran away. Then a little black 
animal came up ; it was a dog, but she had never 
seen one before; it barked so furiously at her that 
she was frightened and made for the open sea. 

The fourth sister was not so brave; she stayed 
in the remotest part of the ocean, and, according 
to her account, that was the most beautiful spot. 
You could see for miles and miles around you, 
and the sky above was like a great glass dome. 
She had seen ships, but only far away, so that 
they looked like sea-gulls. There were grotesque 
dolphins turning somersaults, and gigantic 


48 


THE MERMAID 


whales squirting water through their nostrils like 
hundreds of fountains on every side. 

Now the fifth sister’s turn came. Her birth- 
day fell in the winter, so that she saw sights that 
the others had not seen on their first trips. The 
sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were 
floating about, each one of which looked like a 
pearl, she said, but was much bigger than the 
church towers built by men. They took the most 
wonderful shapes, and sparkled like diamonds. 
She had seated herself on one of the largest, and 
all the passing ships sheered off in alarm when 
they saw her sitting there with her long hair 
streaming loose in the wind. 

Many an evening the five sisters interlacing 
their arms would rise above the water together. 
They had lovely voices, much clearer than any 
mortal, and when a storm was rising, and they 
expected ships to be wrecked, they would sing 
in the most seductive strains of the wonders of 
the deep, bidding the seafarers have no fear of 
them. When the elder sisters rose up in this 
manner, arm-in-arm, in the evening, the young- 
est remained behind quite alone, looking after 
them as if she would weep, but mermaids have 
no tears and so they suffer all the more. 


THE MERMAID 


49 


“Oh! if I were only fifteen!” she said. “I 
know how fond I shall be of the world above, and 
of the mortals who dwell there.” 

At last her fifteenth birthday came. 

“ Now we shall have you off our hands,” said 
her grandmother, “ Come now, let me adorn 
you like your other sisters!” and she put a 
wreath of white lilies round her hair, but every 
petal of the flowers was half a pearl ; then the old 
queen had eight oysters fixed on to the princess’s 
tail to show her high rank. 

“ Rut it hurts so! ” said the little mermaid. 

“ You must endure the pain for the sake of the 
finery ! ” said her grandmother. 

“ Good-by,” said the mermaid, and mounted 
as lightly and airily as a bubble through the 
water. 

The sun had just set when her head rose above 
the water, but the clouds were still lighted up 
with a golden splendor, and the sea was as calm 
as a mill-pond. A big three-masted ship lay close 
by with only a single sail set, for there was not a 
breath of wind, and the sailors were sitting about 
the rigging, on the cross-trees, and at the mast- 
heads. There was music and singing on board, 
and as the evening closed in, hundreds of gayly 


50 THE MERMAID 

colored lanterns were lighted — they looked like 
the flags of all nations waving in the air. The 
little mermaid swam right up to the cabin win- 
dows, and every time she was lifted by the swell 
she could see through the transparent panes 
crowds of gayly dressed people. The handsom- 
est of them all was the young prince with large 
dark eyes; he could not be much more than six- 
teen, and all these festivities w T ere in honor of his 
birthday. The sailors danced on deck, and when 
the prince appeared among them hundreds of 
rockets were let off making it as light as day. 

It got quite late, but the little mermaid could 
not take her eyes off the ship and the beautiful 
prince. The colored lanterns were put out, and 
no more rockets were sent up. The ship got 
more and more way on, sail after sail was filled 
by the wind, the waves grew stronger, great 
clouds gathered, and lightning was seen afar off. 
Oh, there was going to be a fearful storm! and 
soon the sailors had to shorten sail. The great 
ship rocked and rolled as she dashed over the 
angry sea, the black waves rose like mountains, 
but she dived like a swan through them and rose 
again and again on their towering crests. The 
ship creaked and groaned, the mighty timbers 


THE MERMAID 51 

bulged and bent under the heavy blows, the water 
broke over the decks, snapping the mainmast 
like a reed; she heeled over on her side and the 
water rushed into the hold. 

Now the little mermaid saw that they were in 
danger and she had for her own sake to beware 
of the floating beams and wreckage. One mo- 
ment it was so pitch dark that she could not see 
at all, but when the lightning flashed it became so 
light that she could see all on board. Every man 
was looking out for his own safety as best he 
could, but she more particularly followed the 
young prince with her eyes, and when the ship 
went down she saw him sink in the deep sea. At 
first she was quite delighted, for now he was 
coming to be with her, but then she remembered 
that human beings could not live under water, 
and that only if he were dead could he go to her 
father’s palace. No! he must not die; so she 
swam towards him among the drifting beams and 
planks, quite forgetting that they might crush 
her. She dived deep down under the water, and 
came up again through the waves, and at last 
reached the young prince just as he was becom- 
ing unable to swim any further in the stormy 
sea. She held his head above the water and 


52 THE MERMAID 

let the waves drive them whithersoever they 
would. 

By daybreak the storm was over; of the ship 
not a trace was to be seen ; the sun rose from the 
water, and his beams seemed to cast a glow of 
life into the prince’s cheeks, but his eyes remained 
closed. The mermaid kissed his fair and lofty 
brow, and stroked back the dripping hair; it 
seemed to her that he was like the marble statue 
in her little garden; she kissed him again and 
longed that he might live. 

At last she saw dry land before her, high blue 
mountains on whose summits the white snow 
glistened as if a flock of swans had settled there ; 
down by the shore were beautiful green woods, 
and in the foreground a church or temple, she 
did not quite know which, but it was a building 
of some sort. Lemon and orange trees grew in 
the garden and lofty palms stood by the gate. 
At this point the sea formed a little bay where 
the water was quite calm, but very deep, right up 
to the cliffs ; at their foot was a strip of fine white 
sand to which she swam with the beautiful prince, 
and laid him down on it, taking great care that 
his head should rest high up in the warm sun- 
shine. 


THE MERMAID 


53 


The bells now began to ring in the great white 
building and a number of young maidens came 
into the garden. Then the little mermaid swam 
further off behind some high rocks and covered 
her hair and breast with foam, so that no one 
should see her little face, and then she watched 
to see who would discover the poor prince. 

It was not long before one of the maidens 
came up to him; at first she seemed quite fright- 
ened, but only for a moment, and then she 
fetched several others, and the mermaid saw that 
the prince was coming to life, and that he smiled 
at all those around him, but he never smiled at 
her; you see he did not know that she had saved 
him; she felt so sad that when he was led away 
into the great building she dived sorrowfully into 
the water and made her way home to her father’s 
palace. 

Always silent and thoughtful, she became 
more so now than ever. Her sisters often asked 
her what she had seen on her first visit to the 
surface, but she never would tell them anything. 

Many an evening and many a morning she 
would rise to the place where she had left the 
prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, 
she saw the snow melt on the mountain tops, but 


54 THE MERMAID 

she never saw the prince, so she always went 
home sadder than before. At home her only con- 
solation was to sit in her little garden with her 
arms twined round the handsome marble statue 
which reminded her of the prince. It was all in 
gloomy shade now, as she had ceased to tend her 
flowers and the garden had become a neglected 
wilderness of long stalks and leaves entangled 
with the branches of the tree. 

At last she could not bear it any longer, so she 
told one of her sisters, and from her it soon 
spread to the others, but to no one else except to 
one or two other mermaids who only told their 
dearest friends. One of these knew all about the 
prince, she had also seen the festivities on the 
ship; she knew where he came from and where 
his kingdom was situated. 

“ Come, little sister! ” said the other princess, 
and, throwing their arms round each other’s 
shoulders, they rose from the water, just in front 
of the prince’s palace. 

She knew now where he lived and often used 
to go there in the evenings; she swam much 
nearer the land than any of the others dared, she 
even went right up the narrow channel under the 
splendid marble terrace which threw a long 


THE MERMAID 


55 


shadow over the water. She used to sit here 
looking at the young prince who thought he was 
quite alone in the clear moonlight. 

Many a night she heard the fishermen, who 
were fishing by torchlight, talking over the good 
deeds of the young prince; and she was happy to 
think that she had saved his life when he was 
drifting about on the waves, half dead, and she 
could not forget how closely his head had pressed 
her breast, and how she had kissed him. 

She became fonder and fonder of mankind, 
and longed more and more to be able to live 
among them; their world seemed so infinitely 
bigger than hers. There was so much that she 
wanted to know, but her sisters could not give 
an answer to all her questions, so she asked her 
old grandmother who knew the upper world 
well. 

“ If men are not drowned,” asked the little 
mermaid, “ do they live forever, do they not die 
as we do down here in the sea? ” 

“ Yes,” said the old lady, “ they have to die 
too, and their lifetime is even shorter than ours. 
We may live here for three hundred years, hut 
when we cease to exist, we become mere foam on 
the water and do not have so much as a grave 


56 


THE MERMAID 


among our dear ones. We have no immortal 
souls, we have no future life, we are just like the 
green seaweed, which, once cut down, can never 
revive again! Men, on the other hand, have a 
soul which lives forever, lives after the body has 
become dust; it rises through the clear air, up to 
the shining stars ! Just as we rise from the water 
to see the land of mortals, so they rise up to un- 
known beautiful regions which we shall never 
see.” 

“ Why have we no immortal souls? ” asked the 
little mermaid sadly. “ I would give all my three 
hundred years to be a human being for one day, 
and afterwards to have a share in the heavenly 
kingdom. Is there nothing I can do to gain an 
immortal soul? ” 

“ No,” said the grandmother, “ only if a hu- 
man being so loved you, that you were more to 
him than father or mother, if he would let the 
priest join your hands and would vow to be 
faithful to you here, and to all eternity; then 
your body would become filled with his soul. 
He would give you a soul while keeping his own. 
But that can never happen ! That which is your 
greatest beauty in the sea, your fish’s tail, is 
thought hideous up on earth; to be pretty there 


THE MERMAID 57 

you must have two clumsy supports which they 
call legs ! ” 

Then the little mermaid sighed and looked 
sadly at her fish’s tail. 

“Let us be happy,” said the grandmother; 
“ we will hop and skip during our three hundred 
years of life. There is to be a court ball to- 
night.” 

This was a much more splendid affair than we 
ever see on earth. The walls and the ceiling of 
the great ballroom were of thick but transparent 
glass. Several hundred mussel shells, rose-red 
and grass-green, were ranged in order round the 
sides holding blue lights, which shone through 
the walls, so that the sea outside was quite lit up. 
You could see countless fish, great and small, 
swimming towards the glass walls, some with 
shining scales of crimson hue, while others were 
golden and silvery. In the middle of the room 
was a broad stream of running water, and on 
this the mermaids and mermen danced to their 
own beautiful singing. The little mermaid sang 
more sweetly than any of them and they all ap- 
plauded her. For a moment she felt glad, for 
she knew that she had the finest voice either in 
the sea or on land. But she soon began to think 


58 


THE MERMAID 


again about the upper world ; she could not for- 
get the handsome prince and her sorrow in not 
having, like him, an immortal soul. Therefore 
she stole out of her father’s palace, and while all 
within was joy and merriment, she sat sadly in 
her little garden. Suddenly she heard the sound 
of a horn through the water, and she thought, 
“ Now he is out sailing up there; he whom I love 
more than father or mother, he to whom my 
thoughts cling and to whose hands I am ready to 
commit the happiness of my life. I will dare 
anything to win him and to gain an immortal 
soul! While my sisters are dancing in my fa- 
ther’s palace, I will go to the sea witch of whom 
I have always been very much afraid; she will 
perhaps be able to advise and help me ! ” 

Thereupon the little mermaid left the garden 
and went towards the roaring whirlpools at the 
back of which the witch lived. She had never 
been that way before; no flowers grew there, no 
seaweed, only the bare gray sands stretched to- 
wards the whirlpools, which dragged eveiything 
that came within reach down to the depths. The 
witch’s house stood in the midst of a weird forest. 

“ I know very well what you have come here 
for,” said the witch when she saw the little mer- 


THE MERMAID 


59 


maid. “ It is very foolish of you! all the same 
you shall have your way, because it will lead you 
into misfortune, my fine princess. You want to 
get rid of your fish’s tail, and instead to have two 
stumps to walk about upon like human beings, so 
that the young prince may fall in love with you, 
and that you may win him and an immortal 
soul.” Saying this, she gave a loud, ugly laugh. 

“You are just in the nick of time,” said the 
witch ; “ after sunrise to-morrow I should not be 
able to help you until another year had run its 
course. I will make you a drink, and before 
sunrise you must swim ashore with it, seat your- 
self on the beach and drink it ; then your tail will 
divide and shrivel up to what men call beautiful 
legs, but it hurts; it is as if a sharp sword were 
running through you. All who see you will say 
that you are the most beautiful child of man they 
have ever seen. You will keep your gliding 
gait, no dancer will rival you, but every step you 
take will be as if you were treading upon sharp 
knives, so sharp as to draw blood. If you are 
willing to suffer all this I am ready to help you! ” 

“Yes!” said the little princess with a trem- 
bling voice, thinking of the prince and of win- 
ning an undying soul. 


60 


THE MERMAID 


“ But remember,” said the witch, “ when once 
you have received a human form, you can never 
be a mermaid again; you will never again be able 
to dive down through the water to your sisters 
and to your father’s palace. And if you do not 
succeed in winning the prince’s love, so that for 
your sake he will forget father and mother, and 
marry you, you will gain no immortal soul ! The 
first morning after his marriage with another 
your heart will break, and you will turn into 
foam of the sea.” 

“ I will do it,” said the little mermaid. 

“ But you will have to pay me, too,” said the 
witch, “ and it is no trifle that I demand. You 
have the most beautiful voice of any at the bot- 
tom of the sea, and I dare say that you think you 
will fascinate him with it, but you must give me 
that voice. I will have the best you possess in re- 
turn for my precious drink! I have to mix my 
own blood with it so as to make it as sharp as a 
two-edged sword.” 

“ But if you take my voice,” said the little 
mermaid, “ what have I left? ” 

“ Your beautiful form,” said the witch, “ your 
gliding gait, and your speaking eyes ; with these 
you ought surely to be able to bewitch a human 


THE MERMAID 


61 


heart. .Well! have you lost courage? Put oi;t 
your little tongue and I will cut it off in payment 
for the powerful drink.” 

“Let it be done,” said the little mermaid, and 
the witch put on her cauldron to brew the magic 
potion. Then she cut her breast and let the 
black blood drop into the cauldron. She threw 
other things into the pot, and when it boiled the 
bubbling was like the sound of crocodiles weep- 
ing. At last it was ready and it looked like the 
clearest water. 

“ There it is,” said the witch, and she cut off 
the tongue of the little mermaid, who was dumb 
now and could neither sing nor speak. 

When the mermaid returned to her father’s 
palace the lights were all out, and no doubt all 
the household was asleep, but she did not dare to 
go in now that she was dumb. She stole into the 
garden and plucked a flower from each of her 
sister’s plots, threw countless kisses towards the 
palace, and then rose up through the dark blue 
water. 

The sun had not yet risen when she came in 
sight of the prince’s palace and landed at the 
beautiful marble steps. The moon was shining 
bright and clear. The little mermaid drank the 


62 THE MERMAID 

witch’s drink, and it was like a sharp, two-edged 
sword running through her tender frame; she 
fainted away and lay as if she were dead. When 
the sun rose on the sea she woke and felt a sharp 
pain, but just in front of her stood the handsome 
young prince, fixing his coal black eyes on her; 
she cast hers down and saw that her fish’s tail 
was gone, and she had the prettiest little white 
legs any maiden could desire, but she was quite 
naked, so she wrapped her long thick hair around 
her. The prince asked who she was and how she 
came there ; she looked at him tenderly and with a 
sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could 
not speak. Then he took her by the hand and 
led her into the palace. Every step she took was 
as if she were treading on sharp knives, but she 
bore it gladly; and every one marveled at her 
graceful gliding gait. 

Clothed in the finest silks she was the greatest 
beauty in the palace, but she could neither sing 
nor speak. Beautiful slaves came forward and 
sang to the prince ; one of them sang better than 
all the others, and the prince clapped his hands; 
that made the little mermaid very sad, for she 
knew that she used to sing far better herself. 
She thought, “ Oh! if he only knew that for the 


THE MERMAID 


63 


sake of being with him I had given up my voice 
forever ! ” The slaves began to dance to en- 
chanting music; thereupon the little mermaid, 
lifting her beautiful white arms and raising her- 
self on tiptoe, glided on the floor with a grace 
none of the other dancers possessed. Every one 
was delighted with her dancing, especially the 
prince, and she danced on and on, although every 
time her foot touched the ground it was like 
treading on sharp knives. The prince said that 
she should always be near him, and she was al- 
lowed to sleep outside his door on a velvet cush- 
ion. 

He had a man’s dress made for her, so that she 
could ride with him. They rode through the 
woods, where the little birds sang among the 
fresh leaves. She climbed the highest moun- 
tains with the prince, and although her delicate 
feet bled so that others saw it, she only laughed 
and followed him until they saw the clouds sail- 
ing below them. 

At night in the prince’s palace, when the others 
were asleep, she used to go out on to the marble 
steps; it cooled her burning feet to stand in the 
cold sea water, and at such times she used to 
think of those she had left in the deep. 


64 


THE MERMAID 


One night her sisters came arm in arm; they 
sang so sorrowfully that she beckoned to them 
and they recognized her, and told her how she 
had grieved them all. After that they visited 
her every night, and one night she saw, a long 
way out, her old grandmother (who for many 
years had not been above the water), and the 
Merman King with his crown on his head; they 
stretched out their hands towards her, but did 
not venture so close to land as her sisters. 

Day by day she became dearer to the prince, 
but it never entered his head to make her his 
queen. Yet unless she became his wife she would 
on his wedding morning with another bride turn 
to sea-foam. 

“Am I not dearer to you than any of them? ” 
the little mermaid’s eyes seemed to say when he 
took her in his arms and kissed her beautiful 
brow. 

“Yes, you are the dearest one to me,” said the 
prince; “you are like a young girl I once saw, 
but whom I never expect to see again. I was on 
board a ship which was wrecked. I was driven on 
shore by the waves close to a holy Temple where 
there were several young girls; the youngest of 
them found me on the beach and saved my life; 


THE MERMAID 


65 


I saw her but twice. She was the only person I 
could love in this world, but you are like her.” 

“Alas! he does not know that it was I who 
saved his life,” thought the little mermaid. “ I 
bore him over the sea to the wood, where the 
Temple stands. I saw the pretty girl he loves 
better than me.” And the mermaid heaved a 
bitter sigh, for she could not weep. 

“ The girl belongs to the holy Temple, he has 
said, she can never marry him. But I will tend 
him, and love him.” 

Now the rumor ran that the prince was to be 
married to the beautiful daughter of a neighbor- 
ing king, and for that reason was fitting out a 
splendid ship. It was said that the prince was 
going on a voyage to see the adjoining countries, 
but it was without doubt to see the king’s daugh- 
ter. But the little mermaid shook her head and 
laughed; she knew the prince’s thoughts much 
better than any of the others. “ I must take this 
voyage,” he had said to her; “ I must go and see 
this beautiful princess; my parents demand that, 
but they will never force me to bring her home as 
my bride; I can never love her! She will not be 
like the lovely girl at the Temple whom you re- 
semble. If I had to choose a bride it would 


66 


THE MERMAID 


sooner be you with your speaking eyes, my 
sweet ! ” And he kissed her rosy mouth, played 
with her long hair, and laid his head upon her 
heart, which already dreamt of human joys and 
an immortal soul. 

“ You are not frightened of the sea, I suppose, 
my dumb child? ” he said, as they stood on the 
ship which was to carry them to the country of 
the neighboring king; and he told her about 
storms and calms, about curious fish, and the 
marvels seen by divers; and she smiled at his 
tales, for she knew all about the bottom of the 
sea much better than any one else. 

At night, in the moonlight, when all were 
asleep except the steersman, she sat at the side 
of the ship trying to look through the clear 
water, and fancied she saw her father’s palace, 
and above it her old grandmother with her silver 
crown. Then her sisters rose above the water; 
they gazed sadly at her, wringing their white 
hands; she beckoned to them, smiled, and was 
about to tell them that all was going well with 
her, when the cabin boy approached, and the sis- 
ters dived down, but he supposed that the white 
things he had seen were nothing but flakes of 
foam. 


THE MERMAID 


67 


The next morning the ship entered the harbor 
of the neighboring king’s city. The church bells 
rang and trumpets were sounded from every 
lofty tower. There was a fete every day, but 
the princess was not yet present; she was being 
brought up a long way off, in a holy Temple they 
said, and was learning all the royal virtues. At 
last she came. The little mermaid stood eager 
to see her beauty, and she was obliged to confess 
that a lovelier creature she had never beheld. 
Her complexion was exquisitely pure and deli- 
cate, and her eyes of the deepest blue shone under 
their dark lashes. 

“ It is you,” said the prince, “ you who saved 
me when I lay almost lifeless on the beach? ” and 
he clasped his blushing bride to his heart. “ Oh ! 
I am too happy! ” he exclaimed to the little mer- 
maid. 

“ A greater joy than I had dared to hope for 
has come to pass. You will rejoice at my joy, 
for you love me better than any one.” Then the 
little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her 
heart were broken already. 

His wedding morn would bring death to her 
and change her to foam. 

All the church bells pealed and heralds rode 


68 THE MERMAID 

through the town proclaiming the coming mar- 
riage. The bride and bridegroom joined hands 
and received the bishop’s blessing. The little 
mermaid dressed in silk and gold stood holding 
the bride’s train, but her ears were deaf to the 
music, her eyes saw nothing of the ceremony, she 
was thinking of her coming death and of all that 
she had lost in this world. 

That same evening the bride and bridegroom 
embarked, amidst the roar of cannon and the 
waving of banners. A royal tent of purple and 
gold softly cushioned was raised on deck where 
the bridal pair were to repose during the calm, 
cool night. 

The sails swelled in the wind and the ship 
skimmed lightly over the transparent sea. 

At dusk lanterns of many colors were lighted 
and the sailors danced merrily on deck. The lit- 
tle mermaid could not help thinking of the first 
time she had come up from the sea and seen the 
same splendor and gayety; and she now threw 
herself among the dancers, whirling, as a swallow 
skims through the air when pursued. The on- 
lookers cheered her; never had she danced so di- 
vinely; her delicate feet pained her as if they 
were cut with knives, but she did not feel it, for 


THE MERMAID 


69 


the pain at her heart was much sharper. She 
knew that it was the last night that she would 
breathe the same air as he, and would look upon 
the mighty deep, and the blue starry heavens. 
At last all became hushed and still on board the 
ship; only the steersman stood at the helm; the 
little mermaid laid her white arms on the gun- 
wale and looked eastwards for the pink tinted 
dawn; the first sunbeam she knew would be her 
death. Then she saw her sisters rise from the 
water ; they were as pale as she was, their beauti- 
ful long hair no longer floated on the breeze, for 
it had been cut off. 

“We have given it to the witch to win her 
help, so that you may not die to-night! she has 
given us a knife ; here it is, look how sharp it is ! 
Before the sun rises, you must plunge it into the 
prince’s heart, and when his warm blood sprin- 
kles your feet they will join together and grow 
into a tail, and you will once more be a mermaid ; 
you will be able to come down into the water to 
us, and to live out your three hundred years be- 
fore you are turned into dead, salt, sea-foam. 
Make haste! you or he must die before sunrise! 
Our old grandmother is so full of grief that her 
white hair has fallen off as ours fell under the 


70 


THE MERMAID 


witch’s scissors. Slay the prince and come back 
to us! Quick! Quick! do you not see the rosy 
streak in the sky? In a few moments the sun 
will rise and then you must die!” Saying this 
they heaved a deep sigh and sank among the 
waves. 

The little mermaid drew aside the purple cur- 
tain from the tent and looked at the beautiful 
bride asleep with her head on the prince’s breast ; 
she bent over him and kissed his fair brow, looked 
at the sky where the dawn was spreading fast; 
looked at the sharp knife, and again fixed her 
eyes on the prince who, in his dream called his 
bride by name, yes ! she alone was in his thoughts ! 
— For a moment the knife quivered in her grasp, 
then she threw it far out among the waves now 
rosy in the morning light and where it fell the 
water bubbled up like drops of blood. 

Once more she looked at the prince, then 
dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving 
into foam. 

Now the sun rose from the sea and with its 
kindly beams warmed the deadly cold foam, so 
that the little mermaid did not feel the chill of 
death. She saw the bright sun and above her 
floated hundreds of beauteous ethereal beings 


THE MERMAID 


71 


through which she could see the white ship and 
the rosy heavens ; their voices were melodious but 
so spirit-like that no human ear could hear them, 
any more than an earthly eye could see their 
forms. Light as bubbles they floated through 
the air without the aid of wings. The little mer- 
maid perceived that she had a form like theirs; it 
gradually took shape out of the foam. “ To 
whom am I coming? ” said she, and her voice 
sounded like that of the other beings, so unearthly 
in its beauty that no music of ours could repro- 
duce it. 

“ To the daughters of the air! ” answered the 
others ; “ a mermaid has no undying soul, and can 
never gain one without winning the love of a hu- 
man being. Her eternal life must depend upon 
an unknown power. Nor have the daughters of 
the air an everlasting soul, but by their own good 
deeds they may create one for themselves. We 
fly to the tropics where mankind is the victim of 
hot winds, there we bring cooling breezes. We 
diffuse the scent of flowers all around, and bring 
refreshment and healing in our train. When, 
for three hundred years, we have labored to do 
all the good in our power we gain an undying 
soul and take part in the everlasting joys of man- 


72 


THE MERMAID 


kind. You, poor little mermaid, have with your 
whole heart struggled for the same thing that we 
have struggled for. You have suffered and en- 
dured, raised yourself to the spirit world of the 
air; and now, by your own good deeds you may, 
in the course of three hundred years, work out 
for yourself an undying soul.” 

Then the little mermaid lifted her transparent 
arms towards God’s sun, and for the first time 
shed tears. 

On board ship all was again life and bustle; she 
saw the prince with his lovely bride searching for 
her ; they looked sadly at the bubbling foam, as if 
they knew that she had thrown herself into the 
waves. Unseen she kissed the bride on her brow, 
smiled at the prince and rose aloft with the other 
spirits of the air to the rosy clouds which sailed 
above. 

“ In three hundred years we shall thus float 
into Paradise.” 

“We might reach it sooner,” whispered one. 
“ Unseen we flit into those homes of men where 
there are children, and for every day that we find 
a good child who gives pleasure to its parents and 
deserves their love, God shortens our time of 
waiting. The child does not know when we fly 


THE MERMAID 


73 


through the room, and when we smile with pleas- 
ure at it, one year of our three hundred is taken 
away. But if we see a naughty or bad child, we 
cannot help shedding tears of sorrow, and every 
tear adds a day to the time of our waiting.” 


THE TINDER BOX 


SOLDIER came marching along the high 



-Cx road. One, two! One, two! He had his 
knapsack on his back and his sword at his side, 
for he had been to the wars, and he was on his 
way home now. He met an old witch on the 
road; she was so ugly, her lower lip hung right 
down onto her chin. 

She said, “ Good-evening, soldier! What a 
nice sword you’ve got, and such a big knapsack ; 
you are a real soldier! You shall have as much 
money as ever you like ! ” 

“ Thank you kindly, you old witch! ” said the 
soldier. 

“ Do you see that big tree? ” said the witch, 
pointing to a tree close by. “ It is hollow inside ! 
Climb up to the top and you will see a hole into 
which you can let yourself down, right down un- 
der the tree ! I will tie a rope round your waist 
so that I can haul you up again when you call ! ” 

“ What am I to do down under the tree? ” 
asked the soldier. 

“ Fetch money! ” said the witch. “ You must 






















































« 
















~ A 






















* 








THE TINDER BOX 


75 


know that when you get down to the bottom of 
the tree you will find yourself in a wide passage; 
it’s quite light there, for there are over a hundred 
blazing lamps. You will see three doors which 
you can open, for the keys are there. If you go 
into the first room you will see a big box in the 
middle of the floor. A dog is sitting on the top 
of it, and he has eyes as big as saucers, but you 
needn’t mind that. I will give you my blue- 
checked apron, which you can spread out on the 
floor; then go quickly forward, take up the dog 
and put him on my apron, open the box and take 
out as much money as ever you like. It is all 
copper, but if you like silver better, go into the 
next room. There you will find a dog with eyes 
as big as millstones; but never mind that; put 
him on my apron and take the money. If you 
prefer gold, you can have it too, and as much as 
you can carry, if you go into the third room. 
But the dog sitting on that box has eyes each as 
big as the Round Tower. He is a dog, indeed, 
as you may imagine! But don’t let it trouble 
you; you only have to put him on to my apron 
and then he won’t hurt you, and you can take as 
much gold out of the box as you like! ” 

“ That’s not so bad! ” said the soldier. “ But 


76 


THE TINDER BOX 


what am I to give you, old witch? For you’ll 
want something, I’ll be bound.” 

“ No,” said the witch, “ not a single penny do 
I want ; I only want you to bring me an old tin- 
der box that my grandmother forgot the last time 
she was down there! ” 

“ Well! tie the rope round my waist! ” said the 
soldier. 

“ Here it is,” said the witch, “ and here is my 
blue-checked apron.” 

Then the soldier climbed up the tree, let him- 
self slide down the hollow trunk, and found him- 
self, as the witch had said, in the wide passage 
where the many hundred lamps were burning. 

Now he opened the first door. Ugh! There 
sat the dog with eyes as big as saucers staring at 
him. 

“ You are a nice fellow! ” said the soldier, as 
he put him onto the witch’s apron, and took out 
as many pennies as he could cram into his 
pockets. Then he shut the box, and put the dog 
on the top of it again, and went into the next 
room. There sat the dog with eyes as big as 
millstones. 

“ You shouldn’t stare at me so hard; you 
might get a pain in your eyes ! ” Then he put 


77 


THE TINDER BOX 

the dog on the apron, but when he saw all the sil- 
ver in the box he threw away all the coppers, and 
stuffed his pockets and his knapsack with silver. 
Then he went into the third room. Oh! how hor- 
rible! that dog really had two eyes as big as the 
Round Tower, and they rolled round and round 
like wheels. 

“Good-evening!” said the soldier, saluting, 
for he had never seen such a dog in his life; but 
after looking at him for a bit he thought, “ that 
will do,” and then he lifted him down on to the 
apron and opened the chest. Preserve us ! What 
a lot of gold! He could buy the whole of Copen- 
hagen with it, and all the sugar pigs from the 
cake-woman, all the tin soldiers, whips, and rock- 
ing-horses in the world! That was money in- 
deed! Now the soldier threw away all the silver 
he had filled his pockets and his knapsack with, 
and put gold in its place. Yes, he crammed all 
his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, and his boots 
so full that he could hardly walk! Now, he really 
had got a lot of money. He put the dog back on 
to the box, shut the door, and shouted up through 
the tree, “ Haul me up, you old witch! ” 

“ Have you got the tinder box? ” 

“ Oh! to be sure! ” said the soldier. “ I had 


78 


THE TINDER BOX 


quite forgotten it.” And he went back to fetch 
it. The witch hauled him up, and there he was 
standing on the highroad again with his pockets, 
boots, knapsack, and cap full of gold. 

“ What do you want the tinder box for? ” 
asked the soldier. 

“ That’s no business of yours,” said the witch. 
“You’ve got the money; give me the tinder 
box! ” 

“Rubbish!” said the soldier. “Tell me di- 
rectly what you want with it, or I will draw my 
sword and cut off your head.” 

“ I won’t! ” said the witch. 

Then the soldier cut off her head; there she 
lay ! But he tied all the money up in her apron, 
slung it on his back like a pack, put the tinder 
box in his pocket, and marched off to the town: 

It was a beautiful town, and he went straight 
to the finest hotel, ordered the grandest rooms 
and all the food he liked best, because he was a 
rich man now that he had so much money. 

Certainly the servant who had to clean his 
boots thought they were funny old things for 
such a rich gentleman, but he had not had time 
yet to buy any new ones ; the next day he bought 
new boots and fine clothes. The soldier now be- 


THE TINDER BOX 


79 


came a fine gentleman, and the people told him 
all about the grand things in the town, and about 
their king, and what a lovely princess his daugh- 
ter was. 

“ Where is she to be seen? ” asked the soldier. 

“ You can’t see her at all! ” they all said; “ she 
lives in a great copper castle surrounded with 
walls and towers. Nobody but the king dare go 
in and out, for it has been prophesied that she 
will marry a common soldier, and the king 
doesn’t like that ! ” 

“I should like to see her well enough!” 
thought the soldier. But there was no way of 
getting leave for that. 

He now led a very merry life; went to the- 
aters, drove about in the King’s Park, and gave 
away a lot of money to poor people, which was 
very nice of him; for he remembered how dis- 
agreeable it used to be not to have a penny in his 
pocket. Now he was rich, wore fine clothes, and 
had a great many friends, who all said what a 
nice fellow he was — a thorough gentleman — and 
he liked to be told that. 

But as he went on spending money every day 
and his store was never renewed, he at last found 
himself with only two pence left. Then he was 


80 


THE TINDER BOX 


obliged to move out of his fine rooms. He had 
to take a tiny little attic up under the roof, clean 
his own boots, and mend them himself with a 
darning-needle. None of his friends went to 
see him, because there were far too many 
stairs. 

One dark evening when he had not even 
enough money to buy a candle with, he suddenly 
remembered that there was a little bit in the old 
tinder box he had brought out of the hollow tree, 
when the witch helped him down. He got out 
the tinder box with the candle end in it and 
struck fire, but as the sparks flew out from the 
flint the door burst open and the dog with eyes 
as big as saucers, which he had seen down under 
the tree, stood before him and said, “ What does 
my lord command? ” 

“ By heaven! ” said the soldier, “ this is a nice 
kind of. tinder box, if I can get whatever I want 
like this! Get me some money,” he said to the 
dog, and away it went. 

It was back in a twinkling with a bag full of 
pennies in its mouth. 

Now the soldier saw what a treasure he had in 
the tinder box. If he struck once, the dog which 
sat on the box of copper came ; if he struck twice, 


THE TINDER BOX 


81 


the dog on the silver box came, and if he struck 
three times, the one from the box of gold. 

He now moved down to the grand rooms and 
got his fine clothes again, and then all his friends 
knew him once more, and liked him as much as 
ever. 

Then he suddenly began to think: After all, 
it’s a curious thing that no man can get a sight 
of the princess! Every one says she is so beau- 
tiful ! But what is the good of that when she al- 
ways has to be shut up in that big copper palace 
with all the towers. Can I not somehow manage 
to see her? Where is my tinder box? Then he 
struck the flint, and, whisk, came the dog with 
eyes as big as saucers. 

“ It certainly is the middle of the night,” said 
the soldier, “ but I am very anxious to see the 
princess, if only for a single moment.” 

The dog was out of the door in an instant, and 
before the soldier had time to think about it, he 
was back again with the princess. There she 
was, fast asleep on the dog’s back, and she was so 
lovely that anybody could see that she must be a 
real princess ! The soldier could not help it, but 
he was obliged to kiss her, for he was a true sol- 
dier. 


82 


THE TINDER BOX 

\ 

Then the dog ran back again with the princess, 
but in the morning, when the king and queen 
were having breakfast, the princess said that she 
had had such a wonderful dream about a dog and 
a soldier. She had ridden on the dog’s back, and 
the soldier had kissed her. 

“ That’s a pretty tale,” said the queen. 

After this an old lady-in-waiting had to sit by 
her bed at night to see if this was really a dream, 
or what it could be. 

The soldier longed so intensely to see the 
princess again that at night the dog came to fetch 
her. He took her up and ran off with her as fast 
as he could, but the old lady-in-waiting put on 
her goloshes and ran just as fast behind them; 
when she saw that they disappeared into a large 
house, she thought now I know where it is, and 
made a big cross with chalk on the gate. Then 
she went home and lay down, and presently the 
dog came back, too, with the princess. When he 
saw that there was a cross on the gate, he took a 
bit of chalk, too, and made crosses on all the 
gates in the town; now this was very clever of 
him, for the lady-in-waiting could not possibly 
find the gate when there were crosses on all the 
gates. 


83 


THE TINDER BOX 

Early next morning the king, the queen, the 
lady-in-waiting, and all the court officials went to 
see where the princess had been. 

“ There it is,” said the king, when he saw the 
first door with the cross on it. 

“ No, my dear husband, it is there,” said the 
queen, who saw another door with a cross on it. 

“ But there is one, and there is another! ” they 
all cried out. 

They soon saw that it was hopeless to try and 
find it. 

Now the queen was a very clever woman; she 
knew more than how to drive in a chariot. She 
took her big gold scissors and cut up a large 
piece of silk into small pieces, and made a pretty 
little bag, which she filled with fine grains of 
buckwheat. She then tied it on to the back of 
the princess, and when that was done she cut a 
little hole in the bag, so that the grains could 
drop out all the way wherever the princess went. 

At night the dog came again, took the princess 
on his back and ran off with her to the soldier, 
who was so fond of her that he longed to be 
a prince, so that he might have her for his 
wife. 

The dog never noticed how the grain dropped 


84 


THE TINDER BOX 


out all along the road from the palace to the sol- 
dier’s window, where he ran up the wall with the 
princess. 

In the morning the king and the queen easily 
saw where their daughter had been, and they 
seized the soldier and threw him into the dun- 
geons. 

There he lay! Oh! how dark and tiresome it 
was, and then one day they said to him, “To- 
morrow you are to be hanged.” It was not 
amusing to be told that, especially as he had left 
his tinder box behind him at the hotel. 

In the morning he could see through the bars 
in the little window that the people were hurry- 
ing out of the town to see him hanged. He 
heard the drums, and saw the soldiers marching 
along. All the world was going; among them 
was a shoemaker’s boy in his leather apron and 
slippers. He was in such a hurry that he lost 
one of his slippers, and it fell close under the sol- 
dier’s window where he was peeping out through 
the bars. 

“ I say, you boy! Don’t be in such a hurry,” 
said the soldier to him. “ Nothing will happen 
till I get there ! But if you will run to the house 
where I used to live, and fetch me my tinder box, 


THE TINDER BOX 


85 


you shall have a penny! You must put your best 
foot foremost! ” 

The boy was only too glad to have the penny, 
and tore off to get the tinder box, gave it to the 
soldier, and — yes, now we shall hear. 

Outside the town a high scaffold had been 
raised, and the soldiers were drawn up round 
about it, as well as crowds of the townspeople. 
The king and the queen sat upon a beautiful 
throne exactly opposite the judge and all the 
councilors. 

The soldier mounted the ladder, but when they 
were about to put the rope round his neck, he 
said that before undergoing his punishment a 
criminal was always allowed the gratification of 
a harmless wish, and he wanted very much to 
smoke a pipe, as it would be his last pipe in this 
world. 

The king would not deny him this, so the sol- 
dier took out his tinder box and struck fire, one, 
twice, three times, and there were all the dogs. 
The one with eyes like saucers, the one with eyes 
like millstones, and the one whose eyes were as 
big as the Round Tower. 

“ Help me! Save me from being hanged!” 
cried the soldier. 


86 


THE TINDER BOX 


And then the dogs rushed at the soldiers and 
the councilors ; they took one by the legs, and an- 
other by the nose, and threw them up many 
fathoms into the air; and when they fell down 
they were broken all to pieces. 

“ I won’t! ” cried the king, but the biggest dog 
took both him and the queen and threw them 
after all the others. Then the soldiers became 
alarmed, and the people shouted, “ Oh! good sol- 
dier, you shall be our king, and marry the beau- 
tiful princess! ” 

Then they conducted the soldier to the king’s 
chariot, and all three dogs danced along in front 
of him and shouted “Hurrah!” The boys all 
put their fingers in their mouths and whistled, 
and the soldiers presented arms. The princess 
came out of the copper palace and became queen, 
which pleased her veiy much. The wedding took 
place in a week, and the dogs all had seats at the 
table, where they sat staring with all their eyes. 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 



HERE was once a king’s son who had a 


A great many books. He could learn about 
every nation and every country ; but as to where 
the Garden of Paradise was to be found, not a 
word could he discover, and this was the very 
thing he thought most about. His grandmother 
had told him when he was quite a little fellow 
that every flower in the Garden of Paradise was 
a delicious cake. In one flower history was writ- 
ten, in another geography; you had only to eat 
the cake and you knew the lesson. The more 
you ate, the more you knew. All this he be- 
lieved then; but as he grew older and wiser and 
learnt more, he knew that the delights of the 
Garden of Paradise must be far beyond all this. 

“ Oh, why did Eve take of the Tree of Knowl- 
edge! Why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit! 
If it had only been I it would not have happened ! 
never would sin have entered the world! ” 

This is what he said then, and he still said it 
when he was seventeen ; his thoughts were full of 
the Garden of Paradise. 


88 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

He walked into the wood one day. Evening 
came on, the clouds drew up, and it rained as if 
the whole heaven had become a sluice from which 
the water poured in sheets. Now he slipped on 
the wet grass, and then he fell on the bare stones 
which jutted out of the rocky ground. He had 
to climb over huge rocks where the water oozed 
out of the thick moss. He was almost fainting; 
just then he heard a curious murmuring and saw 
in front of him a big lighted cave. A fire was 
burning in the middle, and a splendid stag with 
huge antlers was stuck on a spit, being slowly 
turned round between the hewn trunks of two 
fir trees. An oldish woman, tall and strong, 
sat by the fire throwing on logs from time to 
time. 

“ Come in, by all means! ” she said; “ sit down 
by the fire so that your clothes may dry! ” 

“ There is a shocking draught here,” said the 
Prince, as he sat down on the ground. 

“It will be worse than this when my sons come 
home! ” said the woman. “ You are in the cav- 
ern of the winds; my sons are the four winds of 
the world! Do you understand? ” 

“ Where are your sons? ” asked the Prince. 

“ They are playing rounders with the clouds 



©G.W. J. & CO. 

The prince drew back the branches 














































. 













































































































































THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 89 


up there in the great hall,” and she pointed up 
into the sky. 

“ Oh, indeed! ” said the Prince. “ You seem 
to speak very harshly, and you are not so gentle 
as the women I know ! ” 

Oh, I dare say they have nothing else to do ! 
I have to be harsh if I am to keep my boys under 
control! But I can do it, although they are a 
stiff-necked lot! Do you see those four sacks 
hanging on the wall? They are just as fright- 
ened of them as you used to be of the cane behind 
the looking-glass. I can double the boys up, I 
can tell you, and then they have to go into the 
bag; we don’t stand upon ceremony, and there 
they have to stay ; they can’t get out to play their 
tricks till it suits me to let them. But here we 
have one of them.” 

It was the Northwind who came in with an icy 
blast; great hailstones peppered about the floor 
and snowflakes drifted in. He was dressed in 
bearskin trousers and jacket, and he had a seal- 
skin cap drawn over his ears. Long icicles were 
hanging from his beard, and one hailstone after 
another dropped down from the collar of his 
jacket. 


90 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

“ Don’t go straight to the fire,” said the 
Prince. “ You might easily get chilblains! ” 

“ Chilblains! ” said the Northwind with a loud 
laugh. “ Chilblains! they are my greatest de- 
light! What sort of a feeble creature are you? 
How did you get into the cave of the winds? ” 

“ He is my guest,” said the old woman, “and 
if you are not pleased with that explanation you 
may go into the bag! Now you know my opin- 
ion ! ” 

This had its effect, and the Northwind told 
them where he came from, and where he had been 
for the last month. 

“ I come from the Arctic seas,” he said. “ I 
have been on Behring Island with the Russian 
walrus-hunters. 

“ It’s perfectly splendid! I went to the shore 
and looked at the birds’ nests, looked at the un- 
fledged young ones screaming and gaping; then 
I blew down thousands of their throats and they 
learnt to shut their mouths.” 

“ You’re a good story-teller, my boy! ” said his 
mother. “ It makes my mouth water to hear 
you! ” 

“ Then there was a Hunt! I remembered my 
part of the game! I shook the snowflakes over 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 91 

them and let them drift southwards to taste the 
salt water. They will never come back to Beh- 
ring Island! ” 

“Then you’ve been doing evil!” said the 
mother of the winds. 

“ What good I did, the others may tell you,” 
said he. “ But here we have my brother from 
the west; I like him best of all; he smells of the 
sea and brings a splendid cool breeze with 
him ! ” 

“ Is that the little Zephyr? ” asked the Prince. 

“ Yes, certainly it is Zephyr, but he is not so 
little as all that. He used to be a pretty boy 
once, but that’s gone by! ” 

He looked like a wild man of the woods. He 
carried a great mahogany club cut in the South 
American mahogany forests. 

“ Where do you come from? ” asked' his 
mother. 

“ From the forest wildernesses! ” he said. 

“ What did you do there? ” 

“ I looked at the mighty river, saw where it 
dashed over the rocks in dust and flew with the 
clouds to carry the rainbow.” 

“And you have done nothing else? ” asked the 
old woman. 


92 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

“ I have been turning somersaults in the Sa- 
vannahs, patting the wild horse and shaking 
down cocoanuts! Oh, yes, I have plenty of 
stories to tell ! But one need not tell everything. 
You know that very well, old woman! ” and then 
he kissed his mother so heartily that she nearly 
fell backwards; he was indeed a wild boy. 

The Southwind appeared now in a turban and 
a flowing Bedouin’s cloak. 

“ It is fearfully cold in here,” he said, throw- 
ing wood on the fire; “ it is easy to see that the 
North wind got here first! ” 

“ It is hot enough to roast a polar bear! ” said 
the North wind. 

“You are a polar bear yourself!” said the 
Southwind. 

“ Do you want to go into the bag? ” asked the 
old woman. “ Sit down on that stone and tell us 
where you have been.” 

“ In Africa, mother! ” he answered. “ I have 
been chasing the lion with the Hottentots in Kaf- 
firland ! What grass there is on those plains ! as 
green as an olive. The gnu was dancing about, 
and the ostriches ran races with me, but I am still 
the fastest. I went to the desert with its yellow 
sand. It looks like the bottom of the sea. The 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 93 


sun was blazing above, and the sand burning be- 
low. Then I burrowed into the fine loose sand 
and whirled it up in great columns — that was a 
dance! ” 

“ Then you have only been doing harm! ” said 
the mother. “ Into the bag you go! ” And be- 
fore he knew where he was she had the South- 
wind by the waist and in the bag; it rolled about 
on the ground, but she sat upon it and then it had 
to be quiet. 

“Your sons are lively fellows!” said the 
Prince. 

“Yes, indeed,” she said; “but I can master 
them! Here comes the fourth.” 

It was the Eastwind, and he was dressed like a 
Chinaman. 

“ Oh, have you come from that quarter? ” said 
the mother. “ I thought you had been in the 
Garden of Paradise.” 

“ I am going there to-morrow! ” said the East- 
wind. “ It will be a hundred years to-morrow 
since I have been there. I have just come from 
China, where I danced round the porcelain tower 
till all the bells jingled.” 

“ You’re quite uproarious about it! ” said the 
old woman. “ It’s a good thing you are going 


94 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 


to the Garden of Paradise to-morrow; it always 
has a good effect on your behavior. Mind you 
drink deep of the Well of Wisdom, and bring a 
little bottleful home for me.” 

“ That I will,” said the Eastwind. “ But why 
have you put my brother from the south into the 
bag? Out with him! He must tell me about 
the phoenix; the Princess always wants to hear 
about that when I call. Open the bag! then 
you’ll be my sweetest mother, and I’ll give you 
two pockets full of tea as green and fresh as 
when I picked it! ” 

“ Well, for the sake of the tea, and because 
you are my darling, I will open my bag! ” 

She did open it and the Southwind crept out, 
but he was quite crestfallen because the strange 
Prince had seen his disgrace. 

“ Here is a palm leaf for the Princess!” said 
the Southwind. “ The old phoenix, the only one 
in the world, gave it to me. I saw how the 
phoenix set fire to his nest himself and sat on it 
while it burnt. Oh, how the dry branches crack- 
led, how it smoked, and what a smell there was. 
At last it all burst into flame, the old bird was 
burnt to ashes, but his egg lay glowing in the 
fire ; it broke with a loud bang and the young one 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 95 


flew out. Now it rules over all the birds, and it 
is the only phoenix in the world.” 

“ Let us have something to eat now ! ” said the 
mother of the winds ; and they all sat down to eat 
the roast stag, and the Prince sat by the side of 
the Eastwind, so they soon became good friends. 

“ I say,” said the Prince, “ just tell me who is 
this Princess, and where is the Garden of Para- 
dise? ” 

“Oh, ho!” said the Eastwind, “if that is 
where you want to go you must fly with me to- 
morrow. But I may as well tell you that no 
human being has been there since Adam and 
Eve’s time. You know all about them, I sup- 
pose, from your Bible stories?” 

“ Of course,” said the Prince. 

“ Get on my back to-morrow and I will take 
you with me ; I think I can manage it ! But you 
mustn’t talk now. I want to go to sleep.” 

When the Prince woke up in the early morn- 
ing he was not a little surprised to find that he 
was already high above the clouds. He was sit- 
ting on the back of the Eastwind, who was hold- 
ing him carefully! they were so high up that 
woods and fields, rivers and lakes, looked like a 
large colored map. 


96 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

“ Good-morning,” said the Eastwind. “ You 
may as well sleep a little longer, for there is not 
much to be seen in this flat country below us.” 

“ It was very rude of me to leave without say- 
ing good-by to your mother and brothers,” said 
the Prince. 

“ One is excused when one is asleep! ” said the 
Eastwind, and they flew on faster than ever. 
You could mark their flight by the rustling of the 
trees as they passed over the wood ; and whenever 
they crossed a lake, or the sea, the waves rose and 
the great ships dipped low down in the water, 
like floating swans. Towards evening the large 
towns appeared as it grew dark, with all their 
lights twinkling now here, now there. 

The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but 
the Eastwind flew more swiftly still. The Kos- 
sack on his little horse sped fast over the plains, 
but the Prince sped faster still. 

“ Now you can see the Himalayas! ” said the 
Eastwind. “ They are the highest mountains in 
Asia; we shall soon reach the Garden of Para- 
dise.” 

They took a more southerly direction, and the 
air became scented with spices and flowers. Figs 
and pomegranates grew wild, and the wild vines 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 97 

were covered with blue and green grapes. They 
both descended and stretched themselves on the 
soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the wind, 
as much as to say, “ Welcome back.” 

“Are we in the Garden of Paradise now? ” 
asked the Prince. 

“ No, certainly not! ” answered the Eastwind. 
“ But we shall soon be there. Do you see that 
wall of rock and the great cavern where the wild 
vine hangs like a big curtain? We have to go 
through there! Wrap yourself up in your cloak; 
the sun is burning here, but a step further on it is 
icy cold.” 

“So that is the way to the Garden of Para- 
dise! ” said the Prince. 

Now they entered the cavern. Oh, how icily 
cold it was, but it did not last long. The East- 
wind spread his wings, and they shone like the 
brightest flame; but what a cave it was! Large 
blocks of stone, from which the water dripped, 
hung over them in the most extraordinary 
shapes ; at one moment it was so low and narrow 
that they had to crawl on hands and knees, the 
next it was as wide and lofty as if they were in 
the open air. 

“We seem to be journeying along Death’s 


98 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

road to the Garden of Paradise !” said the Prince, 
but the Eastwind never answered a word; he only 
pointed before them where a beautiful blue light 
was shining. The blocks of stone above them 
grew dimmer and dimmer, and at last they be- 
came as transparent as a white cloud in the moon- 
shine. The air was also deliciously soft, as fresh 
as on the mountain tops and as scented as among 
the roses in the valley. 

A river ran there as clear as the air itself, and 
the fish in it were like gold and silver. Purple 
eels, which gave out blue sparks with every curve, 
gamboled about in the water; and the broad 
leaves of the water-lilies were tinged with the 
hues of the rainbow, while the flower itself was 
like a fiery orange flame. A bridge of marble as 
delicately and skillfully carved as if it were lace 
and glass beads led over the water to the Island 
of Bliss, where the Garden of Paradise bloomed. 

Close by on the grass stood a flock of peacocks 
with their brilliant tails outspread. Lions and 
tigers sprang like cats among the green hedges, 
which were scented with the blossom of the olive, 
and the lion and tiger were tame. The wild 
dove, glistening like a pearl, beat the lion’s mane 
with his wings; and the antelope, otherwise so 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 99 

shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to 
join the game. 

The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to 
meet them ; her garments shone like the sun, and 
her face beamed. She was young and very beau- 
tiful, and was surrounded by a band of lovely 
girls, each with a gleaming star in her hair. 

When the Eastwind gave her the palm leaf 
from the phoenix her eyes sparkled with delight. 
She took the Prince’s hand and led him into her 
palace, where the walls were the color of the 
brightest tulips in the sunlight. 

The Fairy smiled and led him into a large, 
lofty room, the walls of which were like trans- 
parent paintings. In the middle of the room 
stood a large tree, with handsome drooping 
branches; golden apples hung like oranges 
among its green leaves. It was the Tree of 
Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam and Eve had 
eaten. From every leaf hung a shining red drop 
of dew ; it was as if the tree wept tears of blood. 

“ Now let us get into the boat,” said the Fairy. 
“ The boat rocks, but it does not move from the 
spot; all the countries of the world will pass be- 
fore our eyes.” 

It was a curious sight to see the whole coast 


100 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 


move. Here came lofty snow-clad Alps, witli 
their clouds and dark fir trees. The horn echoed 
sadly among them, and the shepherds sang 
sweetly in the valleys. Then banana trees bent 
their long drooping branches over the boat, black 
swans floated on the water, and the strangest 
animals and flowers appeared on the shore. 
They heard the song of priests, and saw the 
dances of savages to the sound of drums and 
pipes of bone. The pyramids of Egypt reach- 
ing to the clouds, and Sphinxes half buried in 
sand, next sailed past them. Then came the 
Aurora Borealis blazing over the peaks of the 
north; they were fireworks which could not be 
imitated. The Prince was so happy, and he saw 
a hundred times more than we have described. 

“ Can I stay here always? ” he asked. 

“ That depends upon yourself/’ answered the 
Fairy. “ If you do not, like Adam, allow your- 
self to be tempted to do what is forbidden, you 
can stay here always.” 

“ I will not touch the apples on the Tree of 
Knowledge,” said the Prince. “ There are thou- 
sands of other fruits here as beautiful.” 

“ If you are not strong enough, go back with 
the Eastwind who brought you. He is going 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 101 

away now, and will not come back for a hundred 
years. Every evening when I leave you I must 
say, ‘ Come with me,’ and I must beckon to you, 
but stay behind. Do not come with me. You 
will reach the hall where grows the Tree of 
Knowledge. I sleep beneath its fragrant droop- 
ing branches. You will bend over me and I 
must smile, but if you press a kiss upon my lips, 
Paradise will sink deep down into the earth, and 
it will be lost to you. The sharp winds of the 
wilderness will whistle round you, the cold rain 
will drop from your hair. Sorrow and labor will 
be your lot.” 

“ I will remain here! ” said the Prince. 

And the Eastwind kissed him on the mouth 
and said: “ Be strong; we shall meet again in a 
hundred years. Farewell! Farewell!” and the 
Eastwind spread his great wings ; they shone like 
poppies at the harvest time, or the Northern 
Lights in a cold winter. 

“ Good-by! Good-by! ” whispered the flowers. 
Storks and pelicans flew in a line like waving 
ribbons, conducting him to the boundaries of the 
Garden. 

“ Now we begin our dancing! ” said the Fairy; 
“ at the end when I dance with you, as the sun 


102 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 

goes down you will see me beckon to you and cry 
‘ Come with me’; but do not come. I have to 
repeat it every night for a hundred years. 
Every time you resist you will grow stronger, 
and at last you will not even think of following. 
To-night is the first time. Remember my warn- 
ing !” 

And the Fairy led him into a large hall of 
white transparent lilies; the yellow stamens in 
each formed a little golden harp which echoed the 
sound of strings and flutes. Lovely girls, slen- 
der and lissom, dressed in floating gauze, glided 
in the dance, and sang of the joy of living — that 
they would never die — and that the Garden of 
Paradise would bloom forever. 

The sun went down and the sky was bathed in 
golden light which gave the lilies the effect of 
roses; and the Prince drank of the foaming wine 
handed to him by the maidens. He felt such joy 
as he had never known before; he saw the back- 
ground of the hall opening where the Tree of 
Knowledge stood in a radiancy which blinded 
him. The song proceeding from it was soft and 
lovely, like his mother’s voice, and she seemed to 
say, “ My child, my beloved child! ” 

Then the Fairy beckoned to him and said so 


THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 103 

tenderly, “ Come with me,” that he rushed to- 
wards her, forgetting his promise, forgetting 
everything on the very first evening that she 
smiled and beckoned to him. 

The fragrance in the scented air around grew 
stronger, the harps sounded sweeter than ever. 
They were no longer tears of blood which fell 
from the Tree; it seemed to him that they were 
red shining stars. 

“ Come with me, come with me,” pleaded the 
Princess gently. 

“ I will go,” he said. “ My will is strong.” 

The Fairy stopped, drew back the branches of 
the Tree of Knowledge, and a moment after was 
hidden within their depths. 

“I have not sinned yet!” said the Prince, 
“ nor will I,” then he drew back the branches. 
There she lay asleep already, beautiful as only 
the Fairy in the Garden of Paradise can be. 
She smiled in her dreams; he bent over her and 
saw the tears welling up under her eyelashes. 

“ Do you weep for me? ” he whispered. 
“ Weep not, beautiful maiden. I only now un- 
derstand the full bliss of Paradise; it surges 
through my blood and through my thoughts. I 
feel the strength of the angels and of everlasting 


104 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 


life in my mortal limbs! If it were to be ever- 
lasting night to me, a moment like this were 
worth it! ” and he kissed away the tears from her 
eyes ; his mouth touched hers. 

Then came a sound like thunder, louder and 
more awful than any he had ever heard before, 
and everything around collapsed. The beautiful 
Fairy, the flowery Paradise sank deeper and 
deeper. The Prince saw it sink into the dark- 
ness of night; it shone far off like a tiny twin- 
kling star. The chill of death crept over his 
limbs ; he closed his eyes and lay long as if dead. 

The cold rain fell on his face, and the sharp 
wind blew around his head, and at last his mem- 
ory came back. “ What have I done? ” he 
sighed. “ I have sinned like Adam, sinned so 
heavily that Paradise has sunk low beneath the 
earth! ” And he opened his eyes; he could still 
see the star, the far-away star, which twinkled 
like Paradise; it was the morning star in the sky. 
He got up and found himself in the wood near 
the cave of the winds, and the mother of the 
winds sat by his side. 

“The first evening!” she said. “I thought 
as much; if you were my boy, you should go into 
the bag! ” 


THE FIR-TREE 


TTAR in the forest, where the warm sun made 
a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little 
fir-tree ; and yet it was not happy, it wished to be 
tall like the pines and firs which grew around it. 
The little peasant children passed by, talking 
merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them not. Some- 
times the children would bring a large basket of 
raspberries or strawberries, and seat themselves 
near the fir-tree, and say, “ Is it not a pretty little 
tree? ” which made it feel more unhappy than be- 
fore. And yet all this while the tree grew a 
notch or joint taller every year. Still it com- 
plained, “ Oh! how I wish I were as tall as the 
other trees, then I would spread out my branches 
on every side, and my top would overlook the 
wide world. I should have the birds building 
their nests on my boughs, and when the wind 
blew, I should bow with dignity like my tall com- 
panions.” Sometimes, in winter, when the snow 
lay on the ground, a hare would come springing 
along, and would jump right over the little tree; 
and then how ashamed it would feel ! Two win- 
ters passed, and when the third arrived, the tree 


106 


THE FIR-TREE 


had grown so tall that the hare was obliged to run 
round it. Yet it remained unsatisfied, and would 
exclaim, “ Oh, if I could but keep on growing tall 
and old! There is nothing else worth caring for 
in the world ! 99 In the autumn, as usual, the 
woodcutters came and cut down several of the 
tallest trees, and the young fir-tree, which was 
now grown to its full height, shuddered as the 
noble trees fell to the earth with a crash. After 
the branches were cut off, the trunks looked so 
slender and bare, that they could scarcely be rec- 
ognized. Then they were placed upon wagons, 
and drawn by horses out of the forest. “ Where 
were they going? What would become of them? ” 
The young fir-tree wished very much to know; so 
in the spring, when the swallows and the storks 
came, it asked, “ Do you know where those trees 
were taken? Did you meet them? ” 

The swallows knew nothing; but the stork, 
after a little reflection, nodded his head, and said, 
“ Yes, I think I do. I met several new ships 
when I flew from Egypt, and they had fine masts 
that smelt like fir. I think these must have been 
the trees; I assure you they were stately, very 
stately.” 

“ Oh, how I wish I were tall enough to go on 



T MET several ships when 1 flew from EdyptS 
J and they had fine masts that smelt 


1 / 




like fir _ 







"f.' 


























. 


* M * 







































v. V 

*• 




wV‘ 


* » 














♦ 






• Z' 
/ 
/' 

































































THE FIR-TREE 107 

the sea,” said the fir-tree. “ What is this sea, 
and what does it look like? ” 

“ It would take too much time to explain,” said 
the stork, flying quickly away. 

“ Be glad that thou art young,” said the sun- 
beam; “ and the young life that is in thee.” 

And the wind kissed the tree, and the dew 
watered it with tears; but the fir-tree felt them 
not. 

Christmas-time drew near, and many young 
trees were cut down, some even smaller and 
younger than the fir-tree who enjoyed neither 
rest nor peace with longing to leave its forest 
home. These young trees, which were chosen 
for their beauty, kept their branches, and were 
also laid on wagons and drawn by horses out of 
the forest. 

“ Where are they going? ” asked the fir-tree. 
“ They are not taller than I am: indeed, one is 
much less; and why are the branches not cut off? 
Where are they going? ” 

“We know, we know,” sang the sparrows; 
“ we have looked in at the windows of the houses 
in town, and we know what is done with them. 
They are dressed up in the most splendid man- 
ner. We have seen them standing in the middle 


108 


THE FIR-TREE 


of a warm room, and adorned with all sorts of 
beautiful things, — honey cakes, gilded apples, 
playthings, and many hundreds of wax tapers.” 

“ And then,” asked the fir-tree, trembling 
through all its branches, “ and then what hap- 
pens? ” 

“ We did not see any more,” said the sparrows ; 
“ but this was enough for us.” 

“ I wonder whether anything so brilliant will 
ever happen to me,” thought the fir-tree. “ It 
would be much better than crossing the sea. Oh ! 
when will Christmas be here? Oh! that I were 
now standing in the warm room, with all that 
brightness and splendor around me! Something 
better and more beautiful is to come after, or the 
trees would not be so decked out. Yes, what 
follows will be grander and more splendid.” 

“ Rejoice with us,” said the air and the sun- 
light. “ Enjoy thine own bright life in the fresh 
air.” 

But the tree would not rejoice, though it grew 
taller every day; and, winter and summer, its 
dark-green foliage might be seen in the forest, 
while passers-by would say, “ What a beautiful 
tree! ” 

A short time before Christmas, the discon- 


THE FIR-TREE 


109 


tented fir-tree was the first to fall. As the ax 
cut through the stem the tree fell with a groan 
to the earth, conscious of pain and faintness, and 
forgetting all its hopes of happiness, in sorrow at 
leaving its home in the forest. It knew that it 
should never again see its dear old companions, 
the trees, nor the little bushes and many-colored 
flowers that had grown by its side; perhaps not 
even the birds. Neither was the journey at all 
pleasant. The tree first recovered itself while 
being unpacked in the courtyard of a house, with 
several other trees; and it heard a man say, “We 
only want one, and this is the prettiest.” 

Then came two servants in grand livery, and 
carried the fir-tree into a beautiful apartment. 
The fir-tree was placed in a large tub, full of 
sand ; but green cloth hung all around it, so that 
no one could see it was a tub, and it stood on a 
very handsome carpet. How the fir-tree trem- 
bled ! “ What was going to happen to him now?” 
Some young ladies came, and helped to adorn the 
tree. On one branch they hung little bags of 
colored paper, and each bag was filled with candy ; 
from other branches hung gilded apples and wal- 
nuts ; and above, and all round, were hundreds of 
red, blue, and white tapers, fastened on the 


110 


THE FIR-TREE 

branches. Dolls, exactly like real babies, were 
placed under the green leaves, and at the very 
top was a glittering star made of tinsel. Oh, it 
was very beautiful! 

“ This evening,” they all exclaimed, “ how 
bright it will be! ” “ Oh, that the evening were 

come,” thought the tree, “ and the tapers 
lighted! then I shall know what else is going to 
happen. Will the trees of the forest come to see 
me? I wonder if the sparrows will peep in at the 
windows? Shall I grow faster here, and keep on 
all these ornaments during summer and winter? ” 
But guessing was of very little use; it made his 
bark ache, and this pain is as bad for a slender fir- 
tree as headache is for us. At last the tapers 
were lighted, and then what a glistening blaze of 
light the tree presented ! It trembled so with joy 
in all its branches, that one of the candles fell 
among the green leaves and burnt some of them. 
“ Help! help! ” exclaimed the young ladies, but 
there was no danger, for they quickly put out the 
fire. After this, the tree tried not to tremble at 
all ; he was so anxious not to hurt any of the beau- 
tiful ornaments. And now the folding-doors 
were thrown open, and a troop of children rushed 
in; they were followed more slowly by their 


THE FIR-TREE 111 

elders. For a moment the little ones stood silent 
with astonishment, and then they shouted for joy 
and danced round the tree, while one present 
after another was taken from it. 

“ What are they doing? What will happen 
next? ” thought the fir. At last the candles burnt 
down to the branches and were put out. Then 
the children received permission to take the gifts 
from the tree. 

The children then danced about with their 
pretty toys, and no one noticed the tree, except 
the maid, who peeped among the branches to see 
if an apple or a fig had been forgotten. 

“A story, a story,” cried the children, pulling 
a little fat man towards the tree. 

“ Now we shall be in the green shade,” said the 
man, as he seated himself under it, “ and the tree 
will have the pleasure of hearing also, but I shall 
only relate one story; what shall it be? Ivede- 
Avede, or Humpty Dumpty, who fell down- 
stairs, but soon got up again, and at last married 
a princess.” 

“ Ivede-Avede,” cried some. “ Humpty 
Dumpty,” cried others, and there was a fine 
shouting and crying out. Then the old man told 
them the story of “ Humpty Dumpty,” how he 


112 


THE FIR-TREE 

fell down-stairs, and was raised up again, and 
married a princess. And the children clapped 
their hands, and cried, “ Tell another, tell an- 
other,” for they wanted to hear the story of 
“ Ivede-Avede.” 

“Ah! yes, so it happens in the world,” thought 
the fir-tree; he believed it all, because it was re- 
lated by such a nice man. “Ah! well,” he 
thought, “ who knows? perhaps I may fall down 
too, and marry a princess ”; and he looked for- 
ward joyfully to the next evening, expecting to 
be again decked out with lights and playthings, 
gold and fruit. “ To-morrow I will not trem- 
ble,” thought he; “I will enjoy all my splendor, 
and I shall hear the story of Humpty Dumpty 
again, and perhaps Ivede-Avede.” And the tree 
remained quiet and thoughtful all night. In the 
morning the servants and the housemaid came in. 
“ Now,” thought the fir, “ all my splendor is go- 
ing to begin again.” But they dragged him out 
of the room and up-stairs to the garret, and threw 
him on the floor in a dark corner, where no day- 
light shone, and there they left him. “ What 
does this mean? ” thought the tree. “ What am 
I to do here? I can hear nothing in a place like 
this,” and he leant against the wall, and thought 


THE FIR-TREE 


113 


and thought. And he had time enough to think, 
for days and nights passed and no one came near 
him, and when at last somebody did come, it was 
only to put away large boxes in a corner. So the 
tree was completely hidden from sight as if it had 
never existed. “ It is winter now,” thought the 
tree, “ the ground is hard and covered with snow, 
so that people cannot plant me. I shall be shel- 
tered here, I dare say, until spring comes. How 
thoughtful and kind everybody is to me! Still I 
wish this place were not so dark, as well as lonely, 
with not even a little hare to look at. How 
pleasant it was out in the forest while the snow 
lay on the ground, when the hare would run by, 
yes, and jump over me too, although I did not 
like it then. Oh ! it is terribly lonely here.” 

“ Squeak, squeak,” said a little mouse, creep- 
ing cautiously towards the tree; then came an- 
other, and they both sniffed at the fir-tree and 
crept between the branches. 

“ Oh, it is very cold,” said the little mouse, “ or 
else we should be so comfortable here, shouldn’t 
we, you old fir-tree? ” 

“ I am not old,” said the fir-tree; “ there are 
many who are older than I am.” 

“ Where do you come from? and what do you 


114 


THE FIR-TREE 

know? ” asked the mice, who were full of curi- 
osity. “ Have you seen the most beautiful places 
in the world, and can you tell us all about them? 
and have you been in the storeroom, where cheeses 
lie on the shelf, and hams hang from the ceiling? 
One can run about on tallow candles there, and 
go in thin and come out fat.” 

“ I know nothing of that place,” said the fir- 
tree, “ but I know the wood where the sun shines 
and the birds sing.” And then the tree told the 
little mice all about its youth. They had never 
heard such an account in their lives; and after 
they had listened to it attentively, they said, 
“ What a number of things you have seen! you 
must have been very happy.” 

“ Happy! ” exclaimed the fir-tree, and then as 
he reflected upon what he had been telling them, 
he said, “Ah, yes! after all, those were happy 
days.” But when he went on and related all 
about Christmas-eve, and how he had been 
dressed up with cakes and lights, the mice said, 
“ How happy you must have been, you old fir- 
tree! ” 

“ I am not old at all,” replied the tree, “ I only 
came from the forest this winter; I cannot grow 
any taller now.” 


THE FIR-TREE 


115 


“What splendid stories you can tell!” said 
the little mice. And the next night four other 
mice came with them to hear what the tree had to 
tell. The more he talked the more he remem- 
bered, and then he thought to himself, “ Those 
were happy days, but they may come again. 
Humpty Dumpty fell down-stairs, and yet he 
married the princess; perhaps I may marry a 
princess too.” And the fir-tree thought of the 
pretty little birch-tree that grew in the forest, 
which was to him a real beautiful princess. 

“ Who is Humpty Dumpty? ” asked the little 
mice. And then the tree related the whole story ; 
he could remember every single word, and the 
little mice were so delighted with it that they 
were ready to jump to the top of the tree. The 
next night a great many more mice made their 
appearance, and on Sunday two rats came with 
them ; but they said it was not a pretty story at 
all, and the little mice were very sorry, for it 
made them also think less of it. 

“Do you know only one story?” asked the 
rats. 

“ Only one,” replied the fir-tree; “ I heard it 
on the happiest evening in my life; but I did not 
know I was so happy at the time.” 


116 


THE FIR-TREE 

“ We think it is a very miserable story,” said 
the rats. “Don’t you know any story about 
bacon, or tallow in the storeroom? ” 

“ No,” replied the tree. 

“ Many thanks to you then,” replied the rats, 
and they marched off. 

The little mice also kept away after this, and 
the tree sighed, and said, “ It was very pleasant 
when the merry little mice sat round me and lis- 
tened while I talked. Now that is all past too. 
However, I shall consider myself happy when 
some one comes to take me out of this place.” 
But would this ever happen? Yes; one morning 
people came to clear out the garret, the boxes 
were packed away, and the tree was pulled out of 
the corner, and thrown roughly on the garret 
floor; then the servant dragged it out upon the 
staircase where the daylight shone. “ Now life is 
beginning again,” said the tree, rejoicing in the 
sunshine and fresh air. Then it was carried 
down-stairs and taken into the courtyard so 
quickly that it forgot to think of itself, and could 
only look about, there was so much to be seen. 
The court was close to a garden, where every- 
thing looked blooming. “ Now I shall live,” 
cried the tree, joyfully spreading out its branches; 


THE FIR-TREE 


117 


but alas ! they were all withered and yellow, and 
it lay in a corner amongst weeds and nettles. 
The star of gold paper still stuck in the top of the 
tree and glittered in the sunshine. In the same 
courtyard two of the merry children were playing 
who had danced round the tree at Christmas, and 
had been so happy. The youngest saw the gilded 
star, and ran and pulled it off the tree. “ Look 
what is sticking to the ugly old fir-tree,” said the 
child, treading on the branches till they crackled 
under his boots. And the tree saw all the fresh 
bright flowers in the garden, and then looked at 
itself, and wished it had remained in the dark 
corner of the garret. It thought of its fresh 
youth in the forest, of the merry Christmas even- 
ing, and of the little mice who had listened to the 
story of “ Humpty Dumpty.” “Past! past!” 
said the old tree. “ Oh, had I but enjoyed my- 
self while I could have done so ! but now it is too 
late.” Then a lad came and chopped the tree 
into small pieces, till a large bundle lay in a heap 
on the ground. The pieces were placed in a fire 
under the copper, and they quickly blazed up 
brightly, while the tree sighed so deeply that each 
sigh was like a little pistol-shot. Then the chil- 
dren, who were at play, came and seated them- 


118 


THE FIR-TREE 


selves in front of the fire, and looked at it, and 
cried, “ Pop, pop.” But at each “ pop,” which 
was a deep sigh, the tree was thinking of a sum- 
mer day in the forest, or of some winter night 
there, when the stars shone brightly; and of 
Christmas evening, and of “ Humpty Dumpty,” 
till at last it was burned up. The boys still 
played in the garden, and the youngest wore the 
golden star on his breast, with which the tree had 
been trimmed during the happiest evening of all 
its life. Now all was past; the tree’s life was 
past, and the story also, — for all stories must 
come to an end at last. 


THE END 



















4 








4 


\ 













• ■! t«vH*Y?sS 

































